Valérien Ismaël says four goals and three points at Cardiff City was the perfect way to celebrate his 46th birthday.
The boss oversaw a superb showing from his Albion team, who cruised past the Bluebirds to go top of the Sky Bet Championship and extend their unbeaten run to 10 games.
And he couldn’t have been happier with the performance – pouring praise on the players as well as 1,000 brave travelling supporters.
“I just said thank you to the guys in the changing room,” said Val.
“It was a great feeling. If I can’t celebrate my birthday with my family, at least I got the three points and it was worth that sacrifice tonight.
“Great game. Great performance. I think that we are really on the right path. We played well, we learned from the Millwall game.
“It was the same game in that the opponent wanted to get the ball in the air, wanted to have the ball outside and we needed to keep the ball in play, play quick and I think we did that perfectly.
“We’ll enjoy the evening but from now the focus is on Stoke. We need the same mentality and the same desire to move forward, we want to finish the week positively.
“We scored some great goals tonight. There were many positive things. A first assist for Grady (Diangana), another goal for Matty (Phillips) and impact off the bench, and Jayson Molumby got his first appearance for us.
“Our captain was unbelievable, Jake (Livermore), a massive performance. KG (Karlan Grant) – we saw that when a player has confidence he can score at any time.
“We saw a strong West Brom team tonight but now we need to focus on the next performance and on Friday.
“I told Alex Mowatt after the game ‘thank you for the present’. It was quality. I think in a short time, after 10 games, he has already showed his quality. He is a massive player for us, for the club. We are very lucky and happy that he plays for us.
“Thank you for the support. It was a difficult away game. The weather was not so good, but we got what we wanted together with your support.
“We need to stay together. I’m looking forward to the game on Friday with 3,000 supporters. It’s our purpose again to go altogether and get another three points.”
