Unity a key ingredient for Albion

Albion blogger Jarrod Hill believes the unity shown by Baggies players in war at Derby just shows another key skill the class of 2009/10 have added to their repertoire.

Our 2-2 draw against Derby on Saturday seems to have drawn the same conclusion from fans and pundits alike. The consensus seems to be that most would have taken a draw before the game, but having taken the lead in injury time the draw feels like two points dropped.

On the balance of play, Derby may feel they deserved a share of the spoils and the confusion surrounding Simon Cox's goal added more spice to a game that had a bit of everything.

My view of the game doesn't really differ from what I have already read amongst the press and other blogs, but there are two points that in my opinion have been over looked.

Firstly, this was a game we would have lost under our former boss Tony Mowbray. Robbie Savage and Stephen Pearson would have bullied our former skipper Jonathan Greening and Robert Koren out of the game, which they tried in vain to do the same to our current midfield duo Graham Dorrans and Gonzalo Jara but their aggression was met with equal force.

Derby - with players such as Paul Dickov, Savage, and Pearson amongst their ranks - were always going to be physical and cause an annoyance to our fluidity. But Jara and Dorrans not only matched them for physical strength, but also played the better football in the face of spoiling tactics.

Secondly, there was one incident in the game that for me spoke volumes about our current set of players and the unity of the squad. For the umpteenth time, Savage had fouled Graham Dorrans and when the young Scot reacted a melee ensued.

What was pleasing for me - but I am not sure about Roberto Di Matteo's view on it though - was that every single Albion player ran to get involved. You may think my pleasure in witnessing this act is a little strange, but please let me explain.

I perceived it as unity amongst a group of players working towards a common goal, not just hyped up players getting involved for the sake of it. It spelled out a clear message to the Derby players who set out with an obvious game plan of mixing it with our boys.

In recent years we have been accused - and rightly so - of having a soft underbelly, but not anymore. Any team that now wants to adopt a physical approach in the hope it will knock us off our game may have to look at other options. It was just another indicator towards the growing feeling of unity amongst our squad, which I believe could be as big an influence on our hopes of promotion as any other.

We have managed to sustain a gap between us and third place, so tonight's visit of Cardiff to the Hawthorns will represent another test as we welcome our friends from over the border. Dave Jones' side had a fantastic start to the season - don't they always - and, although their form of late has been patchy, they still have some of the best players in this division.

It looks like the game will come too soon for Jerome Thomas and that will be a big miss for us. The winger has emerged as one of our most potent attackers and his absence is a void that will need to be filled, with my preference Filipe Texeira.

We are now entering a very important phase of our season and the games come thick and fast, so every player within the squad could be called upon. I hope our squads strength will see us continue to pull clear of the chasing pack, starting with the Bluebirds tonight.