Eric Ramsay says he’s disappointed with the outcome of Albion’s Emirates FA Cup clash with Norwich City, but believes a number of other “objectives” were hit on Saturday.
The Baggies, who made nine changes to the starting XI, suffered a 3-1 defeat at Carrow Road in the fourth round of the tournament, with the hosts scoring twice in the final ten minutes to book their spot in the last 16.
Hindolo Mustapha, on loan from Crystal Palace, was handed a full debut, academy graduates Harry Whitwell and Ollie Bostock earned an opportunity to impress on the senior stage, while a number first-team squad members gained valuable match minutes.
Ramsay says there were plenty of “elements” that he thinks will be really beneficial moving forward.
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The boss said: “It’s frustrating for us to have conceded two goals in the final ten and lose the game.
“We wanted to come here and win and progress. I certainly felt in the middle of the second half that we would have a really good chance of doing so.
“We grew into the game really well and at the point where we put Jamal Jimoh-Aloba and Isaac Price on, you felt the game was open and you felt we would be the team to go on and win it. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.
“Ultimately, the bare minimum I wanted from today was to feel like we moved the group forward in a number of senses and the young players performed admirably – they will all be able to look back and feel like they’ve taken a step forward.
“I wanted to feel a growing sense of fullness to the squad and the young players added to that. Other players were able to get closer to 90 minutes than they have done recently, which was also really important.
“I’m disappointed with the outcome, of course, however, there are elements that are really helpful for us going forward.
“We weren’t aggressive enough in the first half and we were late in press moments and we weren’t strong enough in duals. We had opportunities to turn the ball over in the opposition’s first third and didn’t. We also lacked control on the ball.
“The changes that we made helped that. The players in general were able to play to a higher level when it comes to intensity and aggression and that’s really important. They were undoubtedly the components that helped get us back in the game.
“There was that period of 35/40 minutes in the second half that we would be able to look back on as something really significant that is a reference point in many ways.
“We came here with multiple objectives. We came here and we wanted to win and we wanted to be competitive, but I also wanted to look across the group after the game, irrespective of the outcome, and feel like we were in a better place that we were 90 minutes ago. Ultimately, I firmly believe that’s the case.
“So, as we move into next week, which is a week which tees up a really important week in the season, we are better for this game and there were a number of objectives that we were able to hit that I’m really pleased about.
“We’re really appreciative of the support and the level of noise the away fans made today. They really stuck with us and they helped us get back into the game.
“I hope they look at elements of that performance and be appreciative of parts of it and hopefully see what I see in terms of the step forward across a number of the young players and that growing sense of squad and depth which we really have to push. Their support was a big part of what was a good feeling between us and them today.”
