James Morrison believes the 3-1 scoreline at Middlesbrough on Saturday afternoon wasn’t a fair reflection of the overall game.
The Baggies fell behind in the early part of the second period when Will Lankshear nodded in from close range, but JJ Morgan headed home Isaac Price’s delivery to equalise shortly after.
However, Lankshear scored again less than 10 minutes later and Alfie Jones wrapped up the three points inside the final five.
Albion had large spells of possession in the opening period and created a couple of opportunities, but were unable to test Boro stopper Radek Vitek as much as they would’ve wanted to.
Morrison says his side gave the hosts a “really good game”, but admitted they could’ve offered more in the final third.
The boss said: “I think 3-1 is a little bit of a harsh scoreline today. I think they’ve had the better chances overall, but, for large periods we’ve controlled the game.
“Timings of goals is a really big part of the game. For them to score straight after half-time is disappointing, and he is offside.
“When we were dominant in possession, I think we could’ve created a little bit more. On reflection, we’ve come to Middlesbrough and given them a really good game.
“We felt in control at the break. We had them going back towards their own goal for large periods of time and we had large spells with the ball where we were controlling it, but we only really created one or two chances. When you come away from home, you have to be clinical in the box. We had some chances in the second half.
“It’s about timings, really. Momentum in the game – don’t let them get back in front. They were poor goals and we could’ve done more to stop them from happening.
“I don’t want to become a team that are good on the eye, but give away stupid goals. It’s something that we’re going to have to try and work hard to stop because there have been a few in this early part of the season.
“We’ve taken six points from our first three league games which have been tough. I think we’ve been the better team in large parts of all three games, but we can take pride from our results and the way we’ve performed. What we have to do, is use the hurt of this game in our next two matches which are at home.
“There will be more time for the new lads to settle in over the next few days. I thought the new players looked good today and that they brought energy to the team. The bigger picture is that the new players are still integrating and getting used to everything. On a whole, there were some good performances today.”
