Ryan Mason believes Albion’s second-half performance against Sheffield United at The Hawthorns on Friday night was “dominant”.
Goals after the restart from Aune Heggebø – his seventh in as many games – and Karlan Grant helped secure a deserved three points in front of their own supporters in the Sky Bet Championship.
The boss says his side grew into the encounter after a fairly even first 45 and insists they were worthy winners.
Mason said: “We played a really good game in the first half. You could feel a bit of anxiety from the players, a bit of nervousness. I think they wanted it that much and you could sense that.
“We suffered a few counter-attacks early on, but from my point of view, it’s pleasing to survive those moments. We made some mature decisions, not necessarily ones that are pleasing on the eye at times.
“We managed to build ourselves into the game. It’s our third match in six days, we’ve travelled the most and have done a lot of miles again – it’s a big challenge.
“The effort that the lads put in was incredible. We found a second wind in the second half and scored the goals at really good times.
“The overall performance in the second half was dominant. We created really good opportunities and kept a clean sheet, so everyone’s happy.
“I think Bo’s (Aune Heggebø’s) relationships with his team-mates are improving and we've seen that in the last two or three months – he’s now scoring goals, too. The overall performance from him was incredible and then Granty (Karlan Grant) with the counter-attack later on.
“We’ve had a lot of games at home that we haven’t won because we haven’t scored that second goal. One-nil is always a dangerous scoreline, but we deserved the second goal. It was an outstanding finish and we probably could’ve had a couple more.
“We had good opportunities but I’m really happy for the players and happy for the fans too. I hate losing, we all hate losing and it’s not what we want to do – we’ve lost too many games this season, but we’ve also shown an ability to win games.
“It’s important to protect your goal. I thought we defended the box well and grew into the game. I’m happy for the players and the effort that these boys put keep putting in, I’m so proud.
“Our home run is massive and so important. I played here as an opposition player and it’s always a tough place to come. We need to use the place as much as possible.
“I still think we haven’t won enough games as we should’ve at home this season when we think about the way we’ve performed in some of them. It’s important to build the connection with the fans as much as possible.
“There’s high demands and a lot of expectation here, that’s what I want and why I came here because I want the players to feel that. We’re trying, the players are giving everything all the time and we need to try and win as many games as possible.
