West Bromwich Albion 2 - Preston North End 0

Date:	Thursday 29th December 2022
Competition:	Sky Bet Championship
WBA: 7.6	(4-2-3-1) Palmer 7.1, Furlong 6.4, O'Shea 6.8, Pieters 6.7, Townsend 6.8, Molumby 7.2 (Gardner-Hickman, 78 6.1), Yokuslu 8.9, Wallace 7.3 (Grant, 78 5.2), Rogic 6.2 (Swift, 55 6.6), Diangana 6.3 (Reach, 63 5.8), Thomas-Asante 7.3 (Dike, 63 6.4) Unused subs: Button, Ajayi Manager: Carlos Corberán 8.1
Preston: 5.1	(3-5-2) Woodman, Storey (Diaby, 65), Bauer, Lindsay, Potts, Ledson (McCann, 65), Browne (Woodburn, 78), Whiteman, Fernández, Evans, Riis Jakobsen (Cross-Adair, 65) Unused subs: Cornell, Cunningham, Johnson
Scorers:	Yokuslu (36, 57)
Referee:	Andy Woolmer 5.7
Attendance:	25,321 Home Fans 8.2 Away Fans 6.0

Brendan Clegg:

Another very good performance and a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

Starting 11 totally understandable. Rogic in to give Swift a rest, BTA back in, Grady for the ill Phillips and although Semi must be frustrated you simply can’t change a back four conceding as few goals as ours.

Out of the traps we were on top and it was only the frustration of some nearly moments and some great saves by their keeper that kept it 0-0 for so long.

Wallace was causing havoc and BTA was working his socks off, and it was just starting to try our patience (players and fans) a bit that we couldn’t break the deadlock before Okay won a ball from a clearance, held off his man and strode forward before slamming it hard and low onto the corner - a super goal and the crowd erupted.

We stayed on top into the second half although Preston came out and had a go. Swift came on for Rogic understandably and upped the contribution a notch - smashing the bar with a great drive and then setting up Okay for his second.

We continued to boss it right until the final set of subs disrupted us and we probably should’ve conceded, but we were never in danger and chalked another win.

Corberan continues to do a brilliant job. Defensively we keep the ball out of harms way so well that chances against are kept to a minimum (a bit Hodgson-like), and when we get the ball we are quick, slick and threatening.

Looking forward to Reading. Someone will get a hiding.

Palmer - 7 Assured at his feet and in crosses.
Furlong - 6 solid and reliable
Pieters - 6 Another calm performance
O’Shea - 7 Loved the battle.
Townsend - 6 a bit more consistent
Okay - 8 Two great goals plus everything else. Potentially the best player in the league.
Mulumby - 7 Tigerish and always an option. Took deliberate r
Wallace - 7 Energy, threat, great movement
Rogic - 5 Some good play but wanted it too long or a bit careless
Diagana - 6 In and out. Seems to be not as quick.
BTA - 7 Everything but the goal he deserved

Subs all contributed but Swift was the pick of the bunch.