West Brom are told to respond

West Brom boss Steve Clarke today promised a response after their flying start to the Premier League season suffered a jolt at Swansea.

The Baggies head coach admitted his side were well beaten as they conceded three first-half goals and lost 3-1 at the Liberty Stadium last night.

But the Scot insisted his side will bounce back at home to Stoke on Saturday after last night's loss saw them slip a place to fourth in the table.

Clarke said: "Of course, we will respond. We didn't play well in the first 45 minutes of the game but we responded at half-time, so they have already started to respond.

"It's football. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. We lost last night and we deserved to lose but we will move on. There's another game on Saturday and we will be ready.

"We knew it would be a difficult night but allowing them to get two early goals really put us on the back-foot and they are not a team to chase a game against, because they are always a threat on the counter-attack.

"I think our players knew how hard the league was anyway and I know the West Brom supporters are a knowledgeable bunch.

"They know it's a tough league and they know there will always be nights like last night when things don't go your way.

"It's about how you respond and I look forward to Saturday's game now to see how we respond."

Early strikes from Michu and Wayne Routledge left Albion 2-0 down and a second Routledge goal saw them all-but beaten before Romelu Lukaku pulled a goal back in first-half stoppage-time.

They responded with an improved second-half display but could not avoid a fourth defeat of the season.

Clarke said: "It was very unexpected. We started so slowly it was incredible, you wouldn't have believed it.

"We didn't give ourselves a platform and when you're chasing it is always difficult in this league."