ROBERTO Di Matteo went out of his way to praise the 'vast majority' of Albion fans for getting right behind Luke Moore in today's vital 3-2 success against Preston.
The former Villa striker received what Di Matteo described as a 'bizarre' reception from a small section of supporters when he entered the fray as a 72nd-minute replacement for the tiring Ishmael Miller.
But that was instantly drowned out by a wall of noise in support of Moore, whose name continued to be sung for the remainder of the game.
Di Matteo said: "I thought it was a great reaction from the vast majority of the supporters.
"They backed their player.
"I've asked the supporters to back the team and they've been magnificent all season.
"Obviously, everyone has a right to voice their opinion.
"But I think the reaction of Luke when he heard the whole stadium singing his name was a very positive one.
"It is a bit bizarre that one of your own players gets booed by his own supporters, but I have to emphasise that it was only from a minority."
Di Matteo, who was without Steven Reid (groin), Roman Bednar (thigh), Jonas Olsson (calf) and long-term injured Gonzalo Jara (Achilles) today, has more fitness concerns over Marek Cech.
The head coach said it was too early to judge whether the Slovakian international will be fit for Wednesday's home date with Coventry.
"Marek's got a groin injury," he added.
"We'll have to assess him, but everybody else seems to have come through okay."
