Irish Sunday Mirror

BILIC: MY BAGGIES HAVE MOMENTUM BACK

- By GRAHAM THOMAS at The Hawthorns

was enough graft, perseveran­ce and a first home clean sheet of the season to see them through.

There was also a promising debut from winger Callum Robinson – a deadline day loan from Sheffield United – to further encourage Bilic.

“We needed that and we deserved it, completely,” said the Albion chief after his team’s first league win since December 14.

“Recent results can affect the best teams, so we went back to planned things – not ‘back to basics’ – but to the correct things.

“It was crucial today that we did that. We also created a lot from winning second balls, and we limited them to one real chance in the game.

“I felt we probably should have scored two or three more goals.”

It’s possible to view a team with just one win in eight games sitting on top of the league as a sign of the division’s competitiv­eness, but more likely it indicates the absence of any one outstandin­g team.

Bilic added: “In this league, so much is about momentum. Your position in the table doesn’t mean a lot, it’s more about how you approach a game.

“The momentum is back. But we have to keep it. We have to do everything to avoid the situation we were in before, because it wasn’t a nice situation to be in.”

Luton were denied an equaliser when James Collins was offside, and appealed for a penalty when Pelly-ruddock Mpanzu was upended by Ajayi.

Their manager, Graeme Jones, was optimistic about their situation and with some cause as they might have earned a point with better luck.

“In football, you get either one of two things – reward or developmen­t,” said Jones.

“Today, we’ve added to our developmen­t against a team who are top of the league.

“And from where I was it looked like we should have had a penalty. I’ve never seen him [Mpanzu] dive in my life.”

Albion went ahead when Robinson crossed and Daniels scored past his own keeper.

Ajayi used his head to settle matters in the 70th minute.

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