High praise for West Brom defender following eye-catching debut

Summer recruit Phillips, the former Liverpool centre-back, enjoyed a colossal competitive bow for the club as he helped Albion secure a 1-0 victory against Blackburn in Mason's first game at the helm.

Phillips, 28, starred as the Baggies kept a clean sheet in an encouraging opener to the Championship campaign as Isaac Price's early strike secured the win.

The defender has been tipped to play a leading role in the dressing room at The Hawthorns, bringing a vocal presence to the Baggies ranks.

"He had some real big moments, especially late on, along with some of the other boys," Mason said after the win.

"He's certainly someone that we hope can grow into the club.

"It's such early days for him, but he's already at ease and comfortable within the group. These types of personalities throughout the group are something that we definitely want to work on."

Northern Ireland international Price settled the Championship curtain-raiser with his 15th-minute winner. Albion enjoyed more of the chances and limited Valerien Ismael's visitors to few openings.

"He had some good moments," Mason added. "Obviously, he scored, which is important for any of our attackers to be contributing in that area of the pitch.

"But most importantly, the feeling I got from the group, the willingness to work for each other, to fight for each other, to get that feeling when you win is important."

Mason celebrated at full-time by waving and blowing a kiss with his family. More than an hour later his children were playing on the pitch long after the stadium had emptied. The head coach, 34, admitted having his family present was special.

"Listen, I love what I do," added the former Tottenham coach. "That's why I do it. That's why I put so much energy and sacrifice into it.

"But also, I know it's still such early days. It's literally six weeks into something. But yeah, I've got a real affection for this club, the people here.

"The more times we can give the fans good days and come away with wins, then hopefully that connection will certainly grow."