EDDIE Newton reckoned the impact of second-half subs Simon Cox and James Morrison helped turn the game in Albion's favour in the 3-1 win over Derby.

The Baggies fell behind to a scrappy Chris Porter goal four minutes after the break following a goalless first half they had shaded.

But the introduction of Morrison and Cox around the hour-mark had the desired effect.

Chris Brunt levelled in the 67th minute before notching his second of the game to give the Baggies the lead ten minutes later - his eighth and ninth goals of the season.

And Cox wrapped up the points which propelled Albion back into second place in the Coca-Cola Championship table with a third - his tenth of the campaign - seven minutes from time.

"We saw Derby's levels start to drop off in the latter stages of the game and we knew if we could keep going for 90 minutes we would create chances," said Newton.

"We also knew we had the ability of bringing people on of real quality like Coxy and Mozza, who are able to create something or get on the end of something.

"When we were behind, I was quite confident we could at least create something.

"Having a weekend like this, where we've won and Nottingham Forest have lost, helps with the spirit in the dressing room.

"We know it's going to be a hard slog until the end of the season.

"Everyone's either fighting for promotion, to stay away from relegation or pushing for the play-offs.

"There is no easy game left."

Roberto Di Matteo's No.2 claimed the only thing that mattered today was bagging three points - regardless of the performance - as the players slogged out their eighth game in 24 days.

And he is delighted the team are keeping up the pressure on their nearest promotion rivals.

Leaders Newcastle remain six points ahead after winning 2-1 at Watford while the Baggies have overtaken Forest, who are now two points behind after losing 3-0 at Leicester having played a game more.

"It's about how you utilise your squad," Newton added.

"If you keep flogging your boys until they've got nothing left, you will get punished.

"It's very important we utilise our squad to the best of our ability.

"It's not always the case we can do that.

"Sometimes, you have to play players who are exhausted.

"But we try our best with the resources we've got and now it's the main push until the end of the season.

"It's all about winning now and putting three points on the table.

"We need to try and get away from Forest and keep putting pressure on Newcastle.

"That's all that matters to me.

"Yes, we like to have a good performance and the right result at the end of the day.

"But if we don't have a good performance but the right result, that's fine by me!

"Yes, we've got some experience in our side but it's mainly a young side - and they've been doing fantastic.

"We just need to keep a lid on it, take one game at a time and keep concentrating.

"That's all we can do.

"It's in our hands."

The Baggies players not on international duty have now been handed a well-deserved break until Wednesday.

And Newton is hoping those called up by their countries are not overworked.

"We've got around ten internationals going away," he said.

"Hopefully, the international managers will see fit to rest them in training so they can recover a little bit - and I'm sure they will.

"We've got a little bit of a rest now.

"We've got a lot of European boys so we've sent them home to see their families for a few days.

"They've got the opportunity to get away from the club and have a rest away from football.

"Then we're going to come back and gear up for the last push until the end of the season."