James Morrison reveals West Brom pride in defeat and makes star man 'keep quiet' quip
Albion may have tasted defeat for the first time this season - but the Baggies could hardly have impressed more as they pushed a strong Newcastle United side all the way at St James’ Park.
Boss James Morrison revealed his pride in Albion’s “strong performance” in a spirited exit of the EFL Cup at the hands of Premier League Newcastle.
The in-form Baggies won yet more admirers as they pushed a strong Newcastle side hard in front of 51,000 supporters at a packed St James’ Park - but fell to a narrow 3-2 defeat with former loan hero Harvey Barnes the home star.
Barnes was introduced at half-time by Magpies boss Matthias Jaissle after his side went in level as Bazoumana Toure cancelled out Isaac Price’s cheeky opener before the interval.
Barnes struck seconds into the restart but Morrison’s impressive Baggies rallied and Price fired his second brace in four days with another penalty after a clear Lewis Hall handball. The visitors, roared on by 2,000 fans, were punished for switching off immediately afterwards, however, as Barnes swept in a clinical finish to decide the tie. Newcastle will visit Championship Millwall in round three.
Morrison said: “I think it was a really strong performance from ourselves. We knew at times we would have to manage the momentum of Newcastle and with the crowd. It came at us in the first ten minutes, but once we got through that, we caused them some problems.
“Throughout the 90 minutes we were in the game, I was proud of the lads pushing right to the end.
“Obviously we wanted to try to win the game, but I was after the performance and knew how tough this game would be.
“We made some changes as well, so it was an opportunity to see the lads who haven't been playing. We had two from the academy on the right-hand side and I thought they dealt with the occasion really well.”
Morrison made six changes from the side that beat Burnley on Sunday with full debuts handed to Matt Ingram, Rabby Nzingoula and Barney Stewart, as aforementioned academy graduate duo Alex Williams and Harry Whitwell shone on the right flank.
The head coach said of his selection, with Saturday’s Championship clash at nearby Middlesbrough in mind: “It was just when I would make the changes really, because our main focus is Saturday and it's about the squad. Our squad's going to get challenged with this three-game week.
“I wanted to probably make the changes around 60, but we were in the game and Pricey didn't want to come off! But obviously the physicality of Newcastle tested us and there was a lot of tired bodies out there.”
Morrison half-joked Albion were keen to keep Price’s exciting ability under wraps until after the transfer window deadline next Tuesday night as the Northern Ireland international made it four goals in two games. His opener for the rollercoaster tie’s first goal was a smart piece of improvision with a near-post free-kick.
“For him it's just consistency with his performances,” Morrison added. “We know he's a talented boy, we probably wanted to try and hide him tonight with the transfer window still being open.
“But I'm really pleased with him. I've asked him to step up with his leadership, but he's obviously leading in ways of performances.
“We can only be positive from the performance. It’s just one step more where we're trying to get to.”