Chris Brunt: West Brom's response under James Shan suggests no need to change

The Baggies have won three games out of three under the caretaker boss, and Brunt likened the turnaround to the one Darren Moore brought towards the end of last season.

The club captain says Albion are doing the basics better under Shan, and while he acknowledged the decision was out of his hands, he sees no reason to remove him from the dug-out just yet.

“What can you say?” asked Brunt. “Three games, three wins.

“He’s had the same sort of effect Darren had last season, albeit in a different league and at a different end of the league as well.

“That’s not my decision. You’ve seen the response from the players. Things are going well, training’s been going well and we’ve won three games.

“There’s no reason to change this just yet. Whether the club decide that, it’s up to them, that’s why they’re paid to make those decisions, not me.”

Shan is set to continue working on a game-by-game basis and will lead the Baggies against Millwall this weekend.

When Brunt, who has had a hand in three goals under Shan, was asked how the caretaker had found success, he said: “We’re just doing the basics better.

“We didn’t defend set plays very well the other night, but credit to Birmingham they’re good at them.

“It’s something we’ve prided ourselves on over the last few seasons. We look dangerous from them again.

“We’re doing basics better, defending better as a team and a unit. Everyone is working hard for each other.

“Losing Harvey Barnes in January was probably a bigger blow than everybody realised.

“The way we played in the first half of the season, he was a key part of it. It took us a while to adjust to that.

“With seven games left there’s no good way or bad way to win a game you just need to make sure you get the points."

Shan has closed the gap to the top two from nine points to six during his short tenure, and Brunt believes the Baggies can sneak into the race for automatic promotion.

“We’re under the radar a little bit because no one really expects us to catch the top two," he said.

"But if we keep getting results it puts pressure on them. Hopefully some other teams will do us a favour.

"We’re just going to try to get as many points on the board and see what happens."

Brunt was given man of the match by Sky Sports last Friday for the televised fixture against Birmingham City at The Hawthorns.

He helped Albion come from behind twice to beat Garry Monk's men 3-2.

“We showed a lot of character to come back after going behind twice," said Brunt. "I think we probably deserved it we created the better chances and I don’t think Sam (Johnstone) had too much to do bar picking the ball out of the net twice.

“They’re a good side. They caused us a lot of problems at St Andrew’s earlier this season.

"They set up well and what they do they’re very good at. Credit to them. I’m sure it was a decent game, but we’re delighted to come out with three points."

At the end of the game, Brunt was booked for a lunging tackle on Gary Gardner, and it was a feisty evening with several robust challenges flying in.

But the club captain believes it bodes well for the Baggies that they came out on top of such a battle.

"I don’t know Gary Gardner very well other than to say hello to," he said. "I know Craig Gardner very well.

"Gary caught me a couple of times in the game so I was probably due one back at him at the end of the game. That’s part and parcel of derby games.

"There was no one throwing themselves around trying to get people sent off or anything like that.

"It was a good competitive game and that’s probably one earlier in the season we’d have perhaps come out on the wrong side of with a defeat.

"That shows how far we’ve come over the last few weeks. Long may that continue."