James Shan dedicated Albion’s 1-0 victory at Brentford to Club Secretary Simon Carrington, who sadly passed away on Friday morning.
Simon, at the age of just 34, had fought bravely against cancer, with which he was diagnosed in September 2018, and his passing provided a sombre build-up to the Griffin Park clash.
The Baggies players all wore black armbands as a mark of respect for the Sky Bet Championship fixture against the Bees.
And it was 21-year-old Kyle Edwards, making his full league debut, who settled the encounter with a superb individual effort early in the second half.
Speaking post-match, first-team coach Shan said: “I think Simon was behind us today and with us all the way.
“I’d like to dedicate that in memory of Simon and his family at this sad, sad time.”
Shan added: “Simon was an unbelievable club servant and a great human being.
“He actually texted me on Wednesday evening, and texted me prior to that, to wish me luck, and then again on Thursday to wish me all the best for the game today.
“Very, very, very sad news and this is a definite tribute to a fantastic person.”
Edwards’ maiden league goal for the Baggies sealed a hugely impressive three points for Albion which, on the back of Wednesday’s 3-0 triumph over Swansea City, seals successive victories and clean sheets for Shan since he took charge of first-team affairs.
It came against a Bees side who had won their last seven in a row on home soil, hadn’t tasted defeat in west London since early December and hadn’t seen their attack blunted since October.
Victory, played in difficult windy conditions, was Albion’s ninth in 11 away matches.
Shan said: “I thought we were very good.
“We tweaked a couple of things from the game against Swansea on Wednesday evening, our shape and our style.
“We had literally 20 minutes to work on the grass in the time between the two games and probably about 25-30 minutes classroom-based work.
“I thought the boys were absolutely outstanding in terms of their understanding of the shape. They took it on, there’s obviously a lot of similarities with the ways we’ve played previously.
“I thought they were magnificent.”