Carlos Corberán said his players displayed the “right mentality” necessary to deliver three more Sky Bet Championship points at The Hawthorns on Saturday afternoon.
Albion overcame relegation-threatened Huddersfield Town 1-0 on a sodden afternoon in the West Midlands, with midfielder John Swift converting the only goal of the game from the penalty spot on the half-hour mark.
The result was the Baggies’ second positive one of the week on home soil following on from Tuesday’s success against Wigan Athletic, victories which have moved them up to within three points of the Play-Off positions.
And despite accepting his side didn’t perform as well as they are capable of, Carlos insists he valued the effort on show in the tussle with the Terriers.
He said: “I think today the team performed well in the first half.
“We were attacking a lot more than them and we were creating some chances.
“It wasn’t just the action of the penalty. The team was dominating enough and we stopped them from counter-attacking.
“If it wasn’t chances we were creating, then at least we were getting into good areas.
“We played in the attacking half.
“We started the second 45 with the same idea and tried to unbalance the game further. Huddersfield were playing longer balls and they were trying to counter-attack us more.
“In the moments when you cannot dominate the game then you have to be very concentrated on what you have to do and compete for everything.
“You need to win second balls and challenges in the middle and that’s what the team did today.
“They had the right mentality to achieve the three points which were necessary today.
“When you play against teams who desperately need points and every game for them is final, it’s always going to be difficult. You have to manage the situation.
“Expectation never really helps. What helps is staying focused on the job you have to do which is what the players have done over the last few days here at The Hawthorns.
“We needed to compete well and we did that, without performing as well as we can.
“We are going to keep working to play better in games and become more dominant.
“There was a lot of effort on show today and I have to value that from the players.
“John Swift is one of the players who can take our penalties. I know the Huddersfield goalkeeper very well and he is a very tough goalkeeper.
“It was a great finish from John, but the build-up to the penalty was very positive too. We stayed patient and we found a way through.”
