JIMMY Floyd Hasselbaink hailed a “brilliant” performance from his team as they earned three points with a 2-1 win over Portsmouth.
Goals from Tom O’Connor and Daniel Jebbison secured the victory to return Albion to winning ways.
Hasselbaink said: “We needed a reaction, to show some character, to show a good team performance, making it really difficult for the opposition and I think we did that. We put a lot of energy into pressing, won a lot of balls and if you assess the game overall, we were worthy winners.
“Our goalkeeper didn’t have a save to make, and we scored two good goals. It was a brilliant performance and really gives us something to work from. All of the boys were brilliant today, those who came on and those who started.
“The pressing was important for us and working really hard to earn something out of the game. We knew if we did that well we would cause them problems.”
The manager was also delighted to see Jebbison get on the scoresheet for Albion.
He said: “He picked the most difficult chance and he put it magnificently away. It was important for us after Saturday that he played straight away and got another chance. That’s what good strikers need.”
Despite conceding quickly after going 2-0 up, Hasselbaink was pleased with the way his team saw out the game.
He said: “We responded really well. We were really mature and didn’t give chances away. They made three subs to make it difficult, but we gave them nothing.
“It was important to get the three points. They are good lads, who work very hard and when you work that hard and don’t get rewarded it’s painful and heads can go down. You want them to be rewarded and today they were.”