NK Nafta 0 Albion 3 - Verdict

It was hello, perhaps, to an exciting new forward pairing as Luke Moore and Simon Cox linked up impressively against the Slovenian side.

But it was goodbye, maybe, to Jonathan Greening, who marked the occasion with a thunderous goal early in the second half that put the result beyond doubt.

Greening has made it clear he hopes it will be his last in a Baggies shirt. The 50-odd fans who made the trip to where Slovenia meets Hungary and Croatia let the skipper know they want him to stay.

Yet, as if to rub in the pain of his transfer request, Greening gave the few supporters on hand to watch a painful reminder of what they would be missing should he get his wish to leave.

The 30-year-old ran the game in midfield during a dominant first half for Albion, aided and abetted by a tigerish performance by Youssouf Mulumbu, who offer plenty of encouragement that he could provide the midfield bite that was so absent last season.

Greening's performance also made clear that, as long as he remains a Baggies player, there will be none of the sulking and bitterness that has tainted other recent high-profile exits from The Hawthorns.

But in attack, there were encouraging signs that new signing Cox and forgotten man Moore have struck up an instant footballing rapport.

While they tailed away later in the first half as the heat took hold, there were enough moments of promise early on involving the duo to please head coach Roberto Di Matteo and his staff.

The duo had a major hand in Albion's two best chances of the half, one of which led to a morale-boosting goal for Moore, who fired Albion ahead.

Greening then doubled the lead in the opening moments of the second half, before Jonas Olsson capped a good defensive display by heading in the final goal from Filipe Teixeira corner.

As Di Matteo was quick to acknowledge afterwards, the home side offered little by way of resistance.

Seventh in their domestic league last season, they looked clumsy in defence and sloppy going forwards.

But Albion still managed to look good, coping well with temperatures that rocketed to 35 degrees Celsius by the time kick-off came around.

The moved the ball crisply throughout and a three-goal winning margin was the least their superiority deserved.

After an uneventful opening nine minutes it was Albion who got their noses in front.

The Baggies had enjoyed more possession and they went ahead with a crisp move, started by Marek Cech wide on the left.

His through-ball was dummied by Luke Moore and collected by Simon Cox, who slid the ball back to strike partner Moore and he executed a clinical finish into the bottom corner.

Moore almost added another seven minutes later when he started a move with a good tackle and ended it with a calm finish, but the flag was raised for offside.

Nafta's first chance took 20 minutes to arrive and it was squandered by Sinisa Jankovic, who scuffed wide from a cross by Bela Koplarovics.

They finally opened Albion up on the break on 27 minutes when Bojan Matjasec galloped forwards on the overlap and crossed for Jankovic, who vollied just wide.

Albion should have doubled their lead just before the half-hour when Moore dropped deep and picked out Chris Brunt, before collecting a return ball and crossing for Marek Cech.

But Cech's touch let him down in front of goal and keeper Ales Luke gathered at his feet.

On the stroke of half-time Albion should have been two ahead again, as Cox and Moore linked up well.

Cox outmuscled Damjan Oslaj out wide and squared for Moore, but his low shot was kept out by Luk's smart scrambling save.

Di Matteo rang the changes at half-time and the second period got off to a spectacular start, courtesy of Greening.

He collected the ball 30 yards from goal and drove a powerful right-footed shot, that was still rising as it nestled in the top corner.

Another raft of changes disrupted the flow of the game in the closing quarter, but Albion tested replacement keeper Tomaz Murko from a free-kick with 21 minutes remaining.

Filipe Teixeira rolled it short to fellow sub' Joss Labadie and his powerful drive was kept out the gloveman.

Albion almost added to their lead on 73 minutes, when Teixeira released Chris Wood and he saw his low shot deflected wide.

But the third goal did arrive from the resulting corner, delivered expertly by Teixeira.

Olsson made a well-timed run to the corner of the six-yard box to head home.

There were few scares for the Baggies in the closing stages, but there was one near-miss for Nafta when Nejc Kolman let fly with a 20-yard snap-shot that flashed just wide.

A minute later Borja Valero produced a fine pass to release Teixeira with five minutes left, but the Portuguese midfielder was denied by Murko's low block.

Nafta: Luk, Matjesec, Caban, Oslaj, Bunc, Mujakovic, Vassiljev, Koplarovics, B Gerencer, Jancovic, Sebok.

Subs: Murko, Horvat, Vinko, Kolman, Levacic, Miljkovic, Horvat, Vas, P Gerencer, Bukovec, Buzeti.

Albion (4-4-2): Kiely (Daniels HT); Barnett, Meite (Martis HT), Olsson, Samuels; Brunt (Kim HT), Greening (Teixeira 64), Mulumbu (Labadie HT), Cech (Worrall 64); Cox (Valero HT), Moore (Wood 64).