James reveals half-time confidence boost for Lukaku
JAMES Morrison has revealed his Baggies team-mates rallied behind Romelu Lukaku during the half-time interval of this afternoon’s 2-1 defeat at Newcastle.
The on-loan striker was twice denied by Magpies stopper Tim Krul in the first half – before pouncing on a Zoltan Gera cross to earn Steve Clarke’s men a deserved 55th-minute equaliser.
And the Scotland international midfielder insists Albion’s spirit helped the 6ft3in forward net his third Barclays Premier League goal of the season.
“Romelu’s had two great chances in the first half and I think he expects more of himself and he should be backing himself to put those away,” said Morrison.
“At half-time we gave him encouragement to put the next one away and he did that.
“Some players might hide after failing to convert either of those chances but Romelu didn’t.
“He showed good character and came out in the second half to score an important goal in terms of where the game was going.
“He got his whole body behind it and it was a great ball by Gera.”
The 26-year-old says conceding in stoppage time for the second consecutive week is a bitter pill to swallow – but his focus is already firmly on next Monday’s clash with Southampton at The Hawthorns (ko 8pm).
“The dressing room was very flat and we almost wanted to shed a tear as we played really well.
“Before the game we knew it would be a really difficult place to come and we stuck to the task even when we went 1-0 down.
“We were the only team that looked like winning.
“There second goal is particularly difficult to take.
“He shanked the ball and I don’t know whether it has hit one of our defenders or Cisse but it’s hit the back of the net and I think that’s our luck at the moment.
“If we want to get into the top six, or, something like that, when those chances come you’ve got to put them away.
“We kicked on from there and we had chances, we really were the only team that looked like winning.
“We played really well and the manager said he hasn’t seen anyone dominate Newcastle like that.
“We had the whole back four back when they scored the second and I tried to make a tackle on Ben Arfa which was probably a foul.
“It broke to them and they get a goal like that – it’s just our luck at the moment.”
He added: “We’ve got a long week as we don’t play until Monday night and we’ve got a chance at home where we’ve got a good record this season.
“It’s a good opportunity to get three points and forget about this – we need to move on as quickly as possible.”