Carlos Corberan: West Brom needed patience in Huddersfield win
Carlos Corberan was happy to see Albion's patient approach pay off as they made it 10 Hawthorns wins from 11 to stay in the top-six fight.
The Baggies were 1-0 winners over second-bottom Huddersfield – the second time they have seen off a member of the division's bottom two by that scoreline in a week – to move within three points of the play-offs.
It wasn't a classic at The Hawthorns on the day around 4,000 Baggies marched to the stadium in protest against controlling shareholder Guochuan Lai, but John Swift's penalty after half hour was enough for back-to-back league wins for the first time since the beginning of January.
Corberan said of showing patience in the win against his former side: "It was necessary because if you stretch the attack we would have conceded more counter-attacks as a team.
"They were man-marking and as soon as you receive the ball you have a marker in the back. You need to know how to move the opponent, to keep the ball and surprise in some moments that demand specific behaviours.
"In some moments we did well but in some we need to do better, the team was playing with enough patience in attack, especially in the first half, and with necessary competitive commitment to achieve the points."
While Swift's effort from 12 yards was enough for the three points, the returning Neil Warnock might have seen his doomed Terriers take something back to West Yorkshire had they converted either of two of the game's best openings.
Tom Lees headed over from a corner at 0-0 and David Kasumu slid wastefully wide when played through one-on-one shortly into the second half.
In summary, Corberan added: “It was a competitive one, where two teams played with determination to get the three points for different reasons.
“Both teams had the motivation to get the three points to improve their position in the table.
“With Huddersfield fighting for points to stay in the division, it made it very complicated to play against them.
“The team played well in the first half but it was a different type of defensive set-up we had to face (compared to Wigan on Tuesday).
“We adapted well to the demands of the game, with the moments of quality from Jed Wallace on the left and Adam Reach on the right."
Warnock, 74, who came out of retirement to take the Terriers job last month, stoked the fire 24 hours before kick-off by claiming Corberan had a 'good agent' to get him the Baggies job.
Albion's Spanish boss, though, once again refused to be drawn into a war of words with his veteran counterpart.
“I always analyse the opponent a lot but I always focus on the things how I can help my team," Corberan insisted. "My mind is only on this.
“Because of the way I was brought up I’ve got massive respect for every opponent I play.
“I’m always very pleased when my team wins, especially when it’s as a consequence to the performance."
Asked if victory over Warnock tasted any sweeter than others, Corberan responded: "No, no, no, no, no. Of course not.
"Like I said, I am always focused on how I could help my team and trying to analyse the opponent a lot. At the same time it was how I was educated by my family and my values.
"I have massive respect for him. When I play games I always prepare the games in the level we can prepare. In my mind it's like this. I like what I see winning the football games, this is the consequence to perform very well."
