Steve Bruce singles out ‘one player who did well’ in Carabao Cup exit to Derby County

West Bromwich Albion manager Steve Bruce singled out the performance of goalkeeper Alex Palmer as the one positive following the 1-0 defeat to Derby County.

Palmer who has been playing the cup competitions in place of first-choice stopper David Button pulled off a number of good saves on the night and left the boss with a potential decision to make moving forwards.

Button hasn’t been overly convincing since he was given the number one jersey at the start of the Championship campaign and it was always said that it would be a head-to-head battle between he and Palmer.

And Palmer’s performance on Tuesday evening may now have pushed him slightly ahead in the pecking order.

Bruce was critical of his side following the game, mainly the senior fringe players who he believes didn’t show him enough to suggest they wanted to be in and around the Championship squads moving forward.

But he did make a point as he was walking out of the press room to praise Palmer, claiming “the one who did do well was my goalkeeper.”

It’s a question that will likely be posed later in the week ahead of the trip to Huddersfield Town but there could well be a change in first-choice on the horizon.