Carlos Corberan secured his first win as new West Bromwich Albion manager on Tuesday night as his side battled hard and were eventually good value for all three points, a late goal from Turkish midfielder Okay Yokuşlu sending Michael Appleton’s Blackpool side home empty-handed.
Having fought hard to keep the contest goalless, Yokuşlu found space at the back post from an 85th-minute corner to smash home the winner. Corberan's first victory in charge sees the Baggies lift clear of bottom place, leapfrogging his former side Huddersfield Town, who have two games in hand.
Meanwhile, Appleton will view Tuesday night as an opportunity missed, going up against a side in the relegation zone, lacking in confidence and the early stages of their new managerial reign. Speaking about Blackpool’s defeat at The Hawthorns, Appleton said: “I can’t say we did enough to win the game but the way it was going there weren’t particularly many clear-cut chances.
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“You are thinking it’s going to fizzle out into a 0-0 draw, but you’d take that on the road and move on. If that’s a version of us at our worst with the ball – we have been miles better – I’ll take that knowing I have got some really good nights ahead of me with this group.
“We’ve gone to big grounds and clubs and gone toe-to-toe and scored lots of goals. We didn’t look like scoring.”
Blackpool remain in 15th and won’t be too disheartened having won their previous two and return to Bloomfield Road on Saturday to face fellow mid-table placed side Luton Town, a game they will view as an opportunity to get back to winning ways.
“I know the group we have got and the characters we have in the dressing room and they’ll be ready to go again on Saturday," he added.
The Tangerines only saw 36% of the ball against Corberan’s side, amassing an underwhelming four shots of which none were on target, a situation Appleton had envisioned and anticipated.
“It always going to be a difficult game anyway. I've watched the last five or six games West Brom have played and they've murdered teams and dominated teams, the stats back that up,” he told LancsLive.
“We were hoping that we'd have a little bit more energy, possibly Saturday's took its toll a little bit coming from behind,” he reflected, “playing in the manner we did, there were one or two players who have been excellent for us of late, who were just slightly behind it.”
What did you make of the Blackpool game? Let us know in the comments section.
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