West Brom head coach Carlos Corberan reveals key feature of his side’s recent Championship success

West Brom head coach Carlos Corberan believes his side’s win over Blackpool came due to their “maturity and commitment” at Bloomfield Road on Tuesday night. The Baggies pounced on the Seasiders’ defensive struggles to grab their second consecutive away victory.

Brandon Thomas-Asante’s backheeled effort opened the scoring before Taylor Gardner-Hickman’s side-footed finish secured all three points and a temporary spot in the playoffs. “It was a very combative game,” Corberan assessed whilst speaking to WBATV.

“We knew that today was one of the last opportunities that they had to earn valuable points, especially playing at home. We knew it would be tough and demanding.

“They are very aggressive and they make us play with a lot of concentration in terms of the needs of the game. Blackpool started the game really well and their player hit the post, but after this opportunity, I thought that our players handled the game with maturity.

“We tried to press, but it soon became clear that they had found a way to break the press. We also tried to capitalise on set-piece situations and transitions in attack and we managed to score our first goal from a corner.”

The Spaniard also admitted that the opening goal was the turning point in Albion’s eventual impressive showing. “The goal gave us more confidence,” Corberan said.

“After that, we needed to manage the game and we did that well. We put in a lot of work to achieve the result we wanted.

“The beginning of the second half was much better and we controlled the positions a lot better and we were able to press better. We found Molumby more times on the ball as our six, the full-backs found better positions and the wingers got into better positions.

“All that helped us control the game better. In defence, we needed to be aggressive and we went with a five at the back in the last few minutes when they put on a second striker through the middle.

“It was a game which the players managed with maturity and commitment. It’s so important to show commitment and desire and passion.”

However, there was a slight dampener to the Baggies’ victorious mood, as midfielder Nathaniel Chalobah was forced off with a suspected ankle injury - a blow that Corberan showed concern about. “It looks like the ligament of the ankle," Corberan confirmed.

“We don’t know how serious it is, on Wednesday we’re going to have a scan and we’ll know more, but it’s going to be difficult. Today, for me, I was watching a Chalobah who was very sharp, with one level of agility in his action to impact the game.

"Unfortunately we lost him and it doesn’t look like an easy injury. It’s going to be another important one and that’s why now it makes even more important the recovery of Okay, because we know for us to play with a positional midfielder is key.”