DARREN Moore delivered an honest assessment of his side’s 1-1 draw with Birmingham City.
Albion were fortunate to leave St Andrew's with a point after the hosts dominated large spells on Friday evening.
Jota gave Blues the lead before spurning a golden chance to extend that margin from the spot. And he was made to pay when Matt Phillips struck his fourth goal of the season to level the scores at the break.
After his side were forced to dig in for the duration of the second period, Darren admitted he was happy to be heading back to the Black Country with a share of the spoils.
"I've got to be happy with the point because I didn't think we were clean and decisive in our possession," he nodded.
"I've seen us perform a lot better. For some reason we were just a bit rusty with it.
"Tonight we didn't use the ball properly or effectively enough.
"The positives are we went a goal down and came back into it.
"I thought the lads regained their composure and I thought we finished the game strongly.
"On another occasion we could have pinched it but that would have been cruel on Birmingham."
Garry Monk's side were well up for the derby - "ferocious and aggressive" according to Darren.
"Every time Blues turned the ball over they came straight at us," he said.
"They were ferocious and aggressive in their play.
"They've been doing that all season for Garry. All their games have been at that tempo.
"We knew it would be a difficult game, a local derby.
"We tried to influence our style on the game but Birmingham worked very hard.
"Sam Johnstone's pulled off a great save from the penalty which was a game-defining moment."
Our number one denied Jota from the spot in front of 3,000 raucous Baggies fans at the Railway End. And the gaffer was grateful for their support on a tough evening.
Darren added: "We could hear the fans from the dressing room getting ready.
"They sang their hearts out for the boys.
"We're grateful for it on a night where we didn't play as well as we could have."