James Morrison hails West Brom’s defence after winning with 10 men at Derby

West Brom head coach James Morrison applauded his team’s “defensive unit” after they held on with 10 men to win 1-0 at Derby.

Aune Heggebo put the visitors in front before Brayann Pereira was sent off on his debut but Morrison’s side dug in for a victory to go top of the Championship table.

West Brom started the game under pressure but went ahead in the 16th minute when Jimmy-Jay Morgan whipped in a low cross which Heggebo finished at the near post.

But the sending off of Pereira in the 34th minute for a second yellow card after a reckless challenge on Charlie Taylor meant they had to show resilience to see the game out.

Derby turned the screw and had a great chance in the 68th minute which Lars-Jorgen Salvesen headed over from eight yards.

West Brom defended with skill and character but they survived a scare in the last minute of added time when the ball was knocked past Max O’Leary but Nat Phillips made a crucial clearance

Morrison said: “I thought we were pretty poor for the first 20 or 30 minutes, we caused our own problems really.

“I think the sending off summed up our start really, we gave the ball away far too much and the one time we did string some passes together we scored.

“It was important we got to half time and sorted a few things out. We limited them to crosses coming in and heading from 12 yards, we defended the box really well with everyone putting their bodies on the line.

“That defensive unit of the whole team really when we were low was pretty impressive.

“I felt it from day one really, after last season to now, it’s a credit to the lads and the new lads coming in and fitting in really well, hopefully that will spur us on.”

For Derby head coach John Eustace there was frustration but also positives.

He said: “Obviously frustrated but I thought we started the game really well and even when we went a goal down I thought the whole of the first half was a real positive from my point of view.

“The lads did exactly what I wanted them to do and we had a couple of chances first half which we couldn’t put away.

“Then in the second half West Brom defended really well and I’m disappointed that we couldn’t break them down.

“We just need a bit more quality and the lads to step up and take responsibility for trying to make something happen. We got into some really good areas and we’ve got to keep working in that final third.”