ROBERTO Di Matteo praised his Baggies battlers for adapting their game to a tricky Plymouth pitch to pull off a third successive Coca-Cola Championship win inside six days.

The recalled Simon Cox fired the only goal of the game in the 66th minute as the Home Park encounter turned into a war of attrition on a rapidly deteriorating field.

And the Baggies boss was pleased with his team's fighting qualities as they ground out back-to-back away victories in the space of three testing days.

"I was aware of the pitch and became even more so when a mature woman in our hotel lift told me that the pitch is 'really bad'!" revealed Di Matteo.

"I thought 'even a lady like her knows that'!

"I have to say, unfortunately, she was right.

"It was a difficult pitch to play football on.

"We adapted well and we are very pleased with the three points.

"We couldn't have asked for more.

"The way we had to win was tough.

"We had to battle, fight and adapt to difficult circumstances.

"It wasn't easy to play today and Blackpool's pitch wasn't great, either.

"We tried to play, but you could see how the ball was bobbling.

"It was very difficult.

"But we showed today we can fight AND play.

"We're pleased with three successive wins.

"But this league just keeps going on and on, so you can't really enjoy a win.

"Tomorrow morning, we will already have to focus on Tuesday's game against Scunthorpe.

"It's like a marathon."

A magnificent week for the Baggies was only marred by a second red card of the season for Jerome Thomas in stoppage time. The influential winger will begin a four-match ban against The Iron.

Di Matteo had no qualms about the sending off but did question Damien Johnson's challenge on Thomas in the build-up to the incident.

"I thought before JT got sent off their player should have had a red card for a foul on him," he added.

"Johnson went in on JT when the ball was nowhere near.

"That upset JT - but JT also deserved to be sent off."

The win on Devonshire soil keeps the second-placed Baggies a point ahead of Nottingham Forest, who beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 at the City Ground, and three behind Newcastle, who have a game in hand.

But Di Matteo refused to narrow the automatic promotion race down to the top three teams - regardless of the ten-point gap to fourth place.

"There are still plenty of points to play for," he insisted.

"It looks like the top three at the moment but I don't think it is as simple as it looks now.

"I think the other teams still have something to say."

PIC: SIMON SAYS...Cox and Thomas celebrate Albion's winning goal at Home Park