Kyle Bartley says Albion’s aggression and confidence when in possession made a huge difference to their performance level on Saturday afternoon.
The Baggies battered Preston North End, who were the only remaining unbeaten second-tier team heading into the encounter, 4-0 at Deepdale, thanks to strikes from Bartley himself, Darnell Furlong, Alex Mowatt and Matty Phillips.
And the defender praised the way his team-mates approached the encounter when speaking to WBA TV after the full-time whistle.
Kyle said: “It was a great performance from the lads today and it was probably the most complete one for a while.
“We spoke before about staying focused and trying to put a complete team performance in. We’ve been good in some periods of matches but we also haven’t started well enough in games.
“Today, with the first goal and the way we applied ourselves, it really got us going.
“I think that performance was overdue. I think we have been guilty of waiting for things to happen, rather than taking the game by the scruff of the neck.
“I think we did that today. You could see from the first minute we were aggressive and confident on the ball and it made a huge difference.
“I think them being unbeaten gave us a little bit more motivation to win the game. We are always motivated for every game, but we knew how hard the game would be and knew how we were going to have to apply ourselves. Every man out there did that today and gave one hundred per cent.
“It was good to get on the scoresheet as well. I probably should’ve had another in the first half but Okay keeps on getting in my way.
“The delivery in was great. We have so much ability from set-piece situations, so I know I need to be aggressive and go and try and win it.
“We’ve got key injuries at the moment so we know we need to share the goals around and chip in.”
