Foster: We can hold our heads up high

BEN Foster believes his Albion team-mates should be proud of their performance in today’s 2-0 defeat by Manchester United at Old Trafford. 

The Baggies fell behind after only nine minutes when Gareth McAuley accidentally turned the ball into his own net from Ashley Young’s cross.

But Steve Clarke’s outfit piled pressure on United throughout the second half before substitute Robin van Persie’s last-gasp strike sealed all three points for the Red Devils.

And Foster, who enjoyed a five-year stay with the 19-times champions, insists high-flying Albion’s battling second-half display is an example of why they have been successful so far this campaign. 

“I thought we did really, really well,” said the 29-year-old keeper.

“In the first half I thought we maybe gave them a bit too much space and we stood off them a bit too much.

“In the second half we showed a big improvement and there was a time towards the end of the game where we could have nicked something.

“We’ve played like that for a lot of the season and I think we’ve gone under the radar a little bit.

“People don’t really talk about us that much and we just go about our business quietly and that’s what we’ve been doing all season. 

“I think everybody is happy with the shift that we put in today and unfortunately we didn’t get the result - but we can all hold our heads high.

“We came out really strongly and we didn’t give them a second on the ball.

“We put them under a lot of pressure for quite long periods of the second half and if we’d have started a bit better I’m sure it would have been a different game. 

“We’re proud of our effort and we’ve put in a lot of battling performances over the first half of the season.

“Today showed that as well and hopefully we can have a second half of the season that’s similar to the first.

“That’s our aim now, not to just get the 40 points, but to keep climbing higher and higher.”