Notebook: West Brom coach on transfer, a "Rolls Royce", left-back experiment and injury

The contest in Solihull was useful to offer senior long-term injury victims Daryl Dike and Semi Ajayi some important minutes, but Richard Beale was delighted with the impact of several of his players in the 3-1 Premier League 2 win.

The under-21s are next in action in Monday night's mini-Derby against Wolves at Aggborough in Kidderminster.

Beale said: "I asked the lads to carry on where they left of over the last few weeks, they've had a really good start to the second half of the season.

"It was really good to see them carry that consistently into the game. With young players a lot of the time they can do it for one game, or half, and can't maintain it. We had a decent result, we still could've been better, but I'm really pleased with the energy they're bringing and the basics and hard work for a platform to show the quality."

Here are some other talking points from the under-21s' latest triumph.

Cruising through a return

Promising central defender Jamal Mohammed has endured injury hell and not featured for the under-21s since September 2023, where he injured his meniscus and ACL.

The 18-year-old has had a couple of setbacks since and Newcastle was a huge step forward in the former Peterborough centre-back's return.

The towering London-born stopper gave a seriously impressive display and did not look like somebody who had been sidelined for more than a year. His stylish use of the ball was most eye-catching.

Beale said: "He's had some terrible luck with injuries, he's worked really hard off the pitch and you can see now that he's really developed into his body, he's a big strong unit and as well as that he can play football. We're really pleased to give him his first start and thought he was excellent.