West Brom player ratings vs Derby County: A defensive mix-up & a lack of spark

West Bromwich Albion fell to their first defeat in six as they lost 1-0 to lowly Derby County at Pride Park.

Colin Kazim-Richards scored with the Rams only shot on target to complete a miserable afternoon in Derbyshire for Valerien Ismael’s side.

Albion did a lot of the ball and a lot more of the chances but like so many times this season - lacked a real cutting-edge in front of goal and never really looked like scoring.

Kyle Bartley did have the ball in the back of the net from an Adam Reach free-kick but he was denied by the offside flag.

Sam Johnstone - 4

A real poor day for someone that is usually one of Albion’s better players. His rush of blood that saw him charge out of his goal was costly and ultimately ended up costing his side the game.

Cedric Kipre - 6

Aside from the mix-up with Johnstone, Kipre was actually really solid. Some will say he’s at fault for the goal but his keeper put him in a real tough position.

Kyle Bartley - 6.5

Had the ball in the back of the net for Albion and nearly equalised right at the death, too. Didn’t do much wrong on the day.

Matt Clarke - 6

A few shaky moments against his old side but was solid for the majority. Silly yellow card in the first-half.

Darnell Furlong - 5

Not enough from the wing-back today defensively or offensively and was replaced midway through the second-half.

Conor Townsend - 6

An energetic display as always from Townsend but nothing really seemed to go his way. Can’t fault the effort though.

Jake Livermore - 7*

Albion’s man-of-the-match for me. Often one that receives criticism but he was solid in the middle of the park today and should have had an assist to his name but for Callum Robinson’s poor finish. Never going to be the player that gets you up and excited but it was a solid performance all the same.

Jayson Molumby - 4

I honestly forgot that he was playing. Can hardly remember him touching the ball.

Grady Diangana - 6.5

Was a decent performance from Diangana who was one of the few players that actually got the ball and ran at Derby. They were there for the taking and they needed more to do what he was doing. His substitution puzzled me.

Callum Robinson - 5.5

Missed arguably Albion’s best chance of the game in the first-half when he fired straight at Allsop when through one-on-one. Worked hard as he always does but looked as the main striker.

Adam Reach - 5

Pretty ineffective performance from Reach though would have had an assist had it not been for the linesman’s flag.

Subs:

Jordan Hugill - 6

Looked the most likely to score when introduced. Had a few half-chances but probably should have done better with an effort that he fired wide in the final 10 minutes.

Tom Fellows - 6.5

An impressive cameo from the youngster who Ismael singled out as a positive in the post match presser. A tough ask for him to come on and salvage something from a game though.

Gardner-Hickman - N/A

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