West Brom boss hails his players for Liverpool win

West Brom boss Steve Clarke today hailed his players after they ended a troubled spell with a famous 2-0 Premier League win at Liverpool.

Gareth McAuley and Romelu Lukaku bagged the goals and goalkeeper Ben Foster starred as the Baggies won at Anfield for the second successive season to leapfrog the Reds into eighth place.

The triumph – Albion's first double over Liverpool for 46 years – ended an eight-game winless run for Clarke's side and offered some relief after a fortnight of controversy involving Peter Odemwingie, Goran Popov and Jonas Olsson.

Clarke said: "I'm delighted for the lads because they've given me everything. When things are going well it's easy, you don't need to praise them too much because they're getting the results and getting the plaudits.

"But even in recent weeks, when things haven't been going so well for us, they've given me everything they've got. Some of the performances were good and some not so good.

"But you can never ever question the commitment of the players at West Bromwich Albion – and to me that's really important."

Victory took Albion within five points of the top six but Clarke refused to set a target of European football. "Forty points is our first target and we're almost there – one win away," he said.

Clarke also revealed he had received a 'good luck' text message from Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish ahead of the game.

Clarke was No.2 to Dalglish at Anfield during his second spell as manager.

The Baggies boss said: "He sent me a text wishing me good luck, which was nice. I'm not sure he meant it, mind!"

The boss insisted striker Peter Odemwingie played his part despite being left out of the Baggies' win at Anfield. The Nigeria international travelled to Merseyside after making his peace with the club. Clarke said: "He was involved, that's why he was there."