Skipper delighted to finally get off mark in league
CHRIS Brunt admitted his first Barclays Premier League goal of the season in today’s 2-1 victory at QPR was long overdue.
The Northern Ireland international broke the deadlock with a 30-yard screamer as Albion secured their third triumph on the road this term.
Skipper Brunt had not scored in the league since the Baggies earned a 2-2 draw at Bolton in the final away game of last campaign.
And the 28-year-old revealed he has received jovial criticism from Steve Clarke regarding his barren run.
“It has been a frustrating season for me as I’ve been in and out of the team with injuries,” said Brunt.
“I’ve had a few games recently but a goal has been a long time coming and I’m delighted to have got one.
“The gaffer had a bit of a joke with me the other day about me not scoring enough goals – but I knew he meant it!
“It’s been a long time since I scored and I haven’t got enough goals from midfield over the last couple of years.
“I try to get shots on target from outside the box and I knew as soon as I’d hit it that I’d hit it well enough for it to go in.
“Obviously, getting the three points is the main thing but I’m pleased I got a goal.”
Today’s win has made it seven points from three games – making the team’s recent four-game winless run a distant memory.
Brunt added: “We went off track a little bit with three successive defeats but now we’re unbeaten in three and we’ve won our last two.
“It’s very important in this league to pick up back-to-back wins.
“For 60 to 70 minutes, we were the better side. We created more chances and on another day Romelu may well have scored his two one-on-ones.
“Any Premier League side is going to cause you problems when they’re trailing at home and they threw everything at us in the last 20 minutes.
“But we battled away, as we have done all season, and managed to hold on for the win.
“We showed that we’re a good bunch of lads that work hard for each other week in, week out.”
Brunt also gave his verdict on QPR’s vociferous claims for a penalty in second-half stoppage time after Liam Ridgewell appeared to handle Stephane Mbia’s header inside the area.
“Sometimes they’re given and sometimes they’re not but to be fair it’s difficult for Ridgey to jump without raising his arms,” he said.
“I don’t think he put his hand towards the ball in an effort to stop it but his hand moved towards the ball as a result of the jump.”