West Brom's Jay Rodriguez: My hell over race abuse claims

The Albion striker capped off a brilliant week for him personally with the winner at Old Trafford in Sunday’s stunning 1-0 victory for the bottom club.

It was his second goal in two games and came after an independent panel concluded on Friday that allegations of racial abuse by Brighton defender Gaetan Bong were not proven.

“It’s been horrendous for me and my family,” he said. “I’m a great believer that the truth always comes out.

“It was a massive weight off my shoulders and my family.

“For me anything that affects my family hurts me so deep. Something as serious as this, it’s not nice.”

Rodriguez was man of the match at Old Trafford and his stooping header 13 minutes from time ensured all three points went back to the West Midlands.

The result handed the Premier League title to Manchester City and even though the Albion man enjoyed his goal, he was more pleased about the team’s overall performance

“This is the one you look forward to,” he said.

“Man United are the biggest club in the world. To score here is amazing.

“But for me the buzz I feel is how hard the lads have worked. That means more to me.”

Darren Moore has now won four points from his opening two games in charge following a run of nine straight defeats under Alan Pardew, and Rodriguez praised the caretaker boss for unifying the club.

“Everyone’s stuck together now,” he said. “We’re just working for each other.

“We have done all season but at this moment in time it’s clicking. It’s a great feeling, out there was unbelievable.

“Towards the end I think you could see the work that we had put in, but the lads stuck in, gave it everything we had and we got the win.

“We had a game plan to keep tight because we know how good they are and their players.

“But we knew we had to come here and impose ourselves.

“I thought we did the counter attacks really well, broke things up and created some chances.”