Eric Ramsay says he was “immensely proud” with the level of courage Albion displayed from a defensive point of view at Birmingham City on Tuesday night.
The Baggies battled to a 0-0 draw with the Blues in the Sky Bet Championship thanks to a mix of resilience, some outstanding saves from stopper Max O’Leary and a host of brave blocks and goal-line clearances.
The boss believes the players deserve huge credit for securing back-to-back clean sheets and “restricting” the hosts to very little from open play.
He said: “I’m immensely proud of that performance tonight – it’s everything we need to be between now and the end of the season if we want to get to where we want to be.
“It wasn’t spectacular, but that was a really solid 90 minutes of going toe-to-toe with a team which is in very good form in an atmosphere which is difficult to contend with.
“We showed a step forward in terms of the performance. We were on the front foot, we were aggressive and we connected with the crowd. Those things were crucial ingredients to helping us achieve a point.
“We’ve had to adapt from day one. I’ve said I will be a coach that adapts and finds solutions to problems. I need the group to be able to look at us and feel like we’re able to push different messages and respond to availability and the difficulties we’ve encountered.
“The players deserve immense credit for that because to string back-to-back clean sheets together after what happened against Norwich and Portsmouth and play with a level of courage and personality is not easy to arrive at so quickly. I’m really proud of everyone’s effort.
“We have so much to take from the last two games. There was a real desperation to keep the ball out of the net. We showed a real level of organisation and discipline and we restricted them to very little from open play. They carried a threat on set-plays and second phases and third phases, but we put our body on the line and kept the ball out of the net. We handled the chaos, but we also had that level of organisation which was crucial.
“We were due some luck, and that’s not just reflective of my time here. I know what has led to this point and some of the unfortunate circumstances that have arisen. We trust that that will turn and the important thing tonight was that we made our own luck.”
