ROBERT Koren was delighted to make a vital contribution to Albion's promotion push as he fired them to a 1-0 victory over Sheffield Wednesday with what he described as one of the best goals of his career.

The Slovenia skipper stepped off the bench to replace Jerome Thomas at half-time and curled home a superb 25-yard strike 11 minutes from time to seal the points.

He is now hoping he has done enough to earn a starting berth against Blackpool on Saturday (ko 3pm).

"It's one of the best goals of my career but the most important thing is that this goal gives three points to the team," said Koren.

"It was a really tough game for the team and I've said many times that it's not about personal statistics, it's about the team.

"The team needs to be first or second and go up to the Premier League - and that's all that matters to me.

"Yes, everybody knows that I want to play week in, week out, and when I am on the bench I am not happy.

"I want to be on the field and help the team out.

"But I will support the team when I am on the bench and look forward to getting on, and I am glad I got on the pitch last night and scored the winner.

"We need to stick together as a team and make sure we go up and it's the same with the fans.

"We need them to stick with the team - and they have been great so far."

The 29-year-old midfielder also insisted patience against a 22nd-placed Owls side scrapping for Coca-Cola Championship survival was the key to the Baggies' fourth successive league win at The Hawthorns.

"We knew before the game that Sheffield Wednesday would be a tough game," Koren added.

"They are in the bottom three but they are a really tough team and lately they have got some really good results.

"We knew it would be really difficult and that happened in the first half.

"They defended with all their men behind the ball and tried counter-attacks, and it was really difficult to break them down.

"But in the second half we put more pressure on them, created more chances and in the end we deserved three points."