Match-winner John Swift believes it was “massive” for Albion to get a first win of the 2023/24 season under their belts on Saturday afternoon.
The attacking midfielder scored the Baggies’ third and final goal in their 3-2 victory over Swansea City - which ended up being crucial after the visitors mounted a late attempted comeback.
And, in a post-match chat with WBA TV, he praised his teammates for showing character despite the scare from the Swans.
He said: “It's massive for us to get on the board, especially in front of our fans. If we had gone 3-0 up and it had stayed that way then maybe today would have been a lot better.
“We did well to hang on at the end. It should have never got to that point, but it shows the character in the changing room.
“We started really well and went into half-time 1-0 up. We came out again, got another two and we were very comfortable.
“Maybe we relaxed a little bit and let them have a bit more of the ball, and I think that’s what they want.
“We switched off a few times and they took advantage of that. It’s something we’ll have to work on obviously, but ultimately we’ve come away with our first three points of the season in our first game at home. It’s important."
Swift also spoke about his fantastic record from the spot, which has seen all of his last four goals come from 12-yards - as well as how important Albion’s Hawthorns stadium will be this campaign.
John added: “Every time we come to The Hawthorns, we want it to be horrible for the other team. And I think it was last year, even if we slipped up a little bit.
“As soon as Carlos (Corberán) came in – every home game we were going for the win, no matter what team it was. It’s going to be like that this year.
“Hopefully we can get more away wins. But if we can come to The Hawthorns and show the performance that we did in the opening 70 minutes today, then it’s going to be like it was last year.
“Before the penalty, in my mind I was thinking ‘just score’. We were 2-0 up, so there wasn’t as much pressure on it.
“The penalty stat is a good stat, but it’s not a good stat at the same time. I want to be scoring more from open play. I’ve had chances that I haven’t taken, so I’ll be thinking about that and hopefully I can improve in that aspect.
“But to feel confident when I’ve got the ball when I’m taking a penalty is a good feeling to have, and to score it today was really important because we won by one goal and it was the penalty.”