West Brom debrief: Boss risks wrath of football phone-in with immediate lessons learned

Mowbray has been tasked with letting Albion's forward talent off the leash and the Baggies responded from a 2-0 defeat at Middlesbrough in the new boss' opener last Tuesday.

Here are some talking points in the latest debrief.

Wrath of the football phone-in

"I was very conscious, picking that team today, if we'd have lost 1-0 the local phone-in would've been full of people saying 'what is he doing? There are strikers on the bench, how are we going to score with no strikers?'" Mowbray said.

"Yet I saw it work at my previous club, (Amad) Diallo was the false nine, where we played Jed. Talent, linked it, keep playing, a licence to break the box, Diallo scored 18 goals in half-a-season. I know people can score in that position."

It was a certainly a lesson in overreaction to team news an hour ahead of kick-off.

Jed Wallace and John Swift were surprise starters, but both delivered with long overdue first goals this term and encouraging all-round displays.

Wallace, a winger, occupied a false nine role, one Josh Maja generally plays, and John Swift started as a central midfielder but drifted forward as Callum Styles plugged gaps.

Both worked to a tee and really troubled Portsmouth. Both were inspired calls from Mowbray and helped make the difference following an even first 25 minutes of the clash.