NACER Chadli made his return from injury as the Baggies’ PL2 side lost at Brighton & Hove Albion.
A much-changed Albion side were well-beaten 5-1 but Oliver Burke, Ali Gabr and Sam Field also got some minutes under their belt on a rainy evening at the American Express Elite Football Performance Centre.
Jonathan Leko started the match brightly for Albion when his mazy run resulted in a low shot that was saved by Niki Maenpaa.
Brighton took the lead just before the half hour mark, though, when Viktor Gyokeres curled his effort into the top corner from range.
Chadli came close to equalising when his free-kick went narrowly over the crossbar, but the home side doubled their advantage before the break through Uwe Hunemeier’s header.
Second half strikes from Henrik Bjordal and Max Sanders, as well as an own goal by Alex Palmer, saw Brighton extend their lead even further before Robbie McCourt pulled one back with four minutes to go for Albion.
ALBION: Palmer, Ferguson, Gabr, Jameson, Harmon; Harper, Field (Bradley 61); Burke (Pierce 75), Chadli (McCourt 61), Leko; Morton.
Substitutes: House, Meredith.