Lewis Cox's West Brom analysis: Albion prove their stomach for play-off fight

Play-off chasing rivals had dropped points left, right and centre. The onus was on the Baggies to take advantage.

They had to do so with 10 men for more than half of the contest at home to Queens Park Rangers and Tony Mowbray's men got over the line with relatively little fuss.

This was the day Albion proved they had the stomach to win this fight for the play-offs.

And that is something you have not been able to say of the Baggies consistently throughout this season.

Like against high-flying Leeds the previous weekend, it would have been easy for Albion to go under, down tools, throw their arms in the air and generally cave under pressure from the visiting Rs, who themselves were not totally cut adrift of the top six before a ball was kicked.

It had been a fairly unremarkable 35 minutes by the time Jayson Molumby was upended after good Tom Fellows work and Adam Armstrong slotted in the penalty for the second goal of his loan.

But the real drama came in first-half stoppage time when referee Adam Herczeg dismissed Darnell Furlong for an alleged elbow on Koki Saito. There did not seem much in the off-ball incident. Mowbray, standing nearby, could hardly believe it when, following deliberation, the official opted for red.

That call changed things massively and Albion's head coach knew it would be a case of batten down the hatches and dig in with a backs-to-the-wall style performance in the second period.