Skipper Chris Brunt (hamstring) to be assessed today
ALAN Irvine has urged his Albion side to take the positives from their dominant second-half display against West Ham last night.
The Baggies enjoyed a positive start to the encounter at The Hawthorns and duly took the lead courtesy of Craig Dawson’s tenth-minute header.
However, Kevin Nolan pulled the Hammers level before James Tomkins nodded them in front on the stroke of half-time.
Albion went on to boss the second half, putting the in-form visitors under a barrage of pressure, but they failed to force the leveller their dominance undoubtedly deserved as West Ham ran out narrow 2-1 winners.
Head coach Irvine said: “I have never known a second half like that in which a team has been so completely dominant and finished up without anything.
“We did absolutely everything but score and the effort we put in was absolutely fantastic.
“If we play like we did at the start of this game and play like we did in the second half we will turn things around.
“We started well but there was a sudden nervousness that crept in after a couple of mistakes.
“I wanted the break to get the team settled down again but of course I didn’t expect to do it from the position of 2-1 down.
“We’ve got to keep on doing the things we believe in, there are a lot of positives to take.
“I was pleased with Silvestre Varela.
“I was worried about how long he would last and whether he would be able to keep the intensity going which ball carriers have to rely on but he did.
“I also felt Youssouf Mulumbu was excellent when he came on. But there were a lot of good performances throughout.”
Albion will this morning assess captain Chris Brunt after he was forced off in the latter stages of the first half nursing a hamstring injury.