Carlos Corberan says a positive start for his side has been important as West Brom picked up their second successive away win of the season after a 2-1 win against Stoke.
Goals from Karlan Grant and Josh Maja – either side of a equaliser from Lewis Koumas – ensured they would be travelling back down the M6 with all three points.
Corberan was full of praise for his team’s performance after collecting seven points from a possible nine for last season’s play-off Sky Bet Championship semi-finalists.
“I think our start has been positive, for me at this point in the season it is very important, not in terms of the points that you get – although we always want to get points – not in the results or the points that they other teams have, but the performance,” Corberan said.
“We have a new squad, we have had a lot of changes and for me it is important that we get the steps right in beginning and build on the identity of this squad.
“I am really pleased for the players because they have put a lot of effort in today, of course, all of the credit goes to them.
“For me, they had to manage difficult moments in the game, after nearly scoring a goal at one end of the pitch, Stoke then showed the quality they have in the final part of the pitch, so the players kept the belief and showed the ideal reaction (when retaking the lead two minutes later).
“The team performed better in the second half than they did in the first, I liked the personality of the team as you saw in the last five minutes of the game.
“We were still trying to play football and keep attacking in that moment.”
Stoke manager Steven Schumacher expressed his disappointment in the result, claiming that on another day it could easily have been his side walking away with the victory.
However, there were positives in the loss for the former Plymouth boss, lauding striker Lewis Koumas after he netted and struck the post twice on his home debut.
Schumacher said: “On another day, he gets a hat-trick and takes home the match ball – but that is how close it is in this league. Those are the small margins and they are what determine the outcome of these type of games.
“Lewis was great, he played as a single number nine which he has done a few times but it is not his natural position, he looked really sharp for us.
“He caused their two centre-backs problems, they must have about 1,000 games in the Championship between them.
“It was his first start and you can’t expect too much from him, but what we did see from him was definitely positive.
“I am disappointed with the result, it is a little bit harsh on us and I think we deserved something on the basis of how we played the game.
“It was a tough game, as we expected, against a team that finished inside the top six last season and who will be really strong again this year.
“I thought it was really a hard fought, closely matched, not a lot in it and we came away with nothing, on another day we could have come away with all three points.”
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