As Bob Dylan once sang, "The times they are a changin". That is certainly true of West Brom and Sunday's 1-1 draw against local rivals Aston Villa. There was a time not that long ago where a point against Villa would have been considered a fantastic result, but such is the progress of our club the result felt somewhat disappointing. This maybe just because I've got used to, and have enjoyed, us constantly getting one over on Aston Villa. And of course a late goal is always demoralising, particularly in a derby match.

However, like I mentioned it is a true sign of our progress that Villa away is now considered a winnable game for our club. It's not long ago that they were competing for the Champions League whilst we were attempting to just get into the top division. There is a vast difference in resources between our two clubs, highlighted by the fact that their goal-scorer cost £24 million, a sum Albion could only dream of spending on a set of players let alone one! Despite being a tad disappointed by the result, the display was very promising from Steve Clarke's side.

Goran Popov came in at left back, and he looks to be solid acquisition for the club as competition for Liam Ridgewell. Ridgewell has been a fantastic signing, I've yet to see him have a bad game, so it was very worrying when he would miss the game. Popov brings the same size and physicality to Ablion's back four, and arguably he looks a little better going forward than Ridgewell. Popov should have won a penalty for Albion when Marc Albrighton clearly blocked the Macedonian's cross with his arm. Overall it was a good debut for Popov and now Ridgewell faces a fight to regain his shirt, which is only good news that there is now even more competition for places.

Injuries seem to be riddling us at the moment, with Chris Brunt and Billy Jones both forced off during the first half. However, both of their replacements did adequate jobs in their place. Gabriel Tamas did well out of position at right back, making a crucial block on Christian Benteke and coming close to scoring when his cross nearly deceived Brad Guzan.

Tamas is obviously not a permanent replacement at right-back, but to have another player capable of fulfilling that role is good news. Hopefully Steven Reid will return to fitness in time for QPR, especially as when Reid has played in a back four with McAuley, Olsson and Ridgewell we have been undefeated. Graham Dorrans came on for Brunt and gave a far more impressive performance than his showing in midweek against Liverpool.

It was these injuries that made the performance impressive. Despite Steve Clarke having little room for manoeuvre in terms of tactical changes or subs, we went out in the second half with an attacking mindset and constantly pushed Villa onto the back foot. Shane Long led the line fantastically for Albion, he scored our goal but what I found more impressive was his touch and link-up play. He had the beating of the Villa centre half pairing in the air and along the floor. His chasing down was as enthusiastic as usual and I am delighted he got a goal to reward one of his best performances in an Albion shirt.

His substitution was probably the turning point in the game, Romelu Lukaku just didn't seem to give their defenders the same problems and also allowed them to bring the ball out more from the back. Having said that, Lukaku nearly earned himself a place in Albion folklore when he hit the post late on with a deflected shot.

• Recommend0
• Tweet0
• Email