Carlos Corberan insists West Brom's Leeds win "doesn't mean anything else" amid big celebrations
Carlos Corberan played down the significance as Albion stormed to a home win over rivals Leeds – despite acknowledging the "commitment" between fans and players amid booming post-match celebrations.
The Hawthorns rocked as Corberan's men sealed a memorable 1-0 win over the Whites, with Grady Diangana the first-half match-winner in the battle of fifth against fourth.
Head coach Corberan labelled the atmosphere the best of his tenure in what was one of the finer victories of the Spaniard's 14 months in charge.
Despite the euphoria at full-time as the 25,400 Hawthorns crowd cheered their troops home, Corberan was keen to dampen the significance of the victory as Albion recorded back-to-back home Christmas victories as a perfect response from a miserable day at Middlesbrough last weekend.
"The celebrations show that the people were pleased with the commitment levels of the players," Corberan told the Express & Star.
"That's the most important thing in football – every time you're on the pitch, show your fans you are going to give your best to achieve the points.
"The fact that you beat Leeds, though, doesn't mean anything else – it was just to win this game. They supported our team a lot today."
Corberan regularly references the 1-1 draw between Albion and Leeds, when he was with Marcelo Bielsa, as a Hawthorns atmosphere memory that stuck with him.
On that point he added: "In that game West Bromwich Albion suffered less than us. I remember that game as a big defeat.
"Today, in one period of games and this is our third game in a row, the message was to keep the energy level from the beginning to end.
"The support of the fans gave us the energy to never give up, to defend every single action, to keep working. When you create this, it's special."
Albion reeled Leeds to within three points and put a five-point buffer between them and the play-offs chasing pack in seventh.
Corberan added: "It was one game that gives us three points more. It was our aim, all week, when preparing for the game and we made the necessary things to achieve this.
"It was special, yes, in terms of the commitment and what we put into the game. We knew that to beat Leeds, a special team with lots of good players, if you are a very strong team and you have a strong team mentality. Everything I saw in every player was a real team."
Corberan revealed Albion will assess captain Jed Wallace after he felt adductor pain in the second half of the win and had to be withdrawn. Wallace created opposite winger Diangana's first-half winner.
