Source: Team_Talk
Laws blasts Owls after Albion defeat
The Owls were made to pay for a mistake-ridden first-half display which left them dead and buried thanks to a double by Simon Cox and a further strike by Jerome Thomas.[LNB]Chris Brunt put the seal on a miserable afternoon for his old club - who have now won just one game in nine - by firing home the Baggies' fourth goal five minutes from time.[LNB]Laws said: "You have to be at your best to beat a side like West Brom, but we made them look very good.[LNB]"I thought for the first 20 minutes, we were pretty even but the first goal (in the 22nd minute) sapped the strength from the players and then our passing went astray.[LNB]"The level of performance that we have shown in the last four or five games was not present."[LNB]Captain Tommy Spurr was substituted soon after the third goal went in, and it was not long before Jermaine Johnson and top scorer Marcus Tudgay were hauled off too.[LNB]Laws added: "You can't carry one player let alone 10. I would have put on all seven subs if I could. I think that's one of the worse performances we have put in.[LNB]"We have to make it a one-off. We have a huge game coming up against Reading and it's all out to get three points.[LNB]"We need to work on doing the basics right. A result like this does drag you into the relegation situation without a doubt."[LNB]Albion continue to look good value for an immediate return to the top flight, and could have scored more as they rattled the Wednesday defence with nearly each and every attack.[LNB]That was illustrated well by the ease with which Cox converted his second.[LNB]The defending was not much better for the third as Thomas carried the ball unchallenged before firing home.[LNB]The win at Hillsborough was the Baggies' fourth on the bounce and keeps Roberto Di Matteo's men within two points of Championship leaders Newcastle.[LNB]Di Matteo said: "Can you write that I am smiling as otherwise I get accused of never smiling, I believe that if you play well over the long term then you should get results.[LNB]"We put in another great performance, and really we managed to finish off the game in the first half with the third goal.[LNB]"I have been here for five months and I still believe there is a lot of work to do, but I don't think we are doing too badly.[LNB]"Newcastle have a budget of £45million and we are only two points behind them."[LNB]The Italian even had time to throw on Albion's youngest debutant since Charlie Wilson when 16-year-old George Thorne came on for the final few minutes.[LNB]He added: "A little Christmas present. Everybody feels good about Christmas coming up and we were four nil up.[LNB]"He is still young, but he has showed a bit of potential and we will keep monitoring him. He has trained with us and we thought we would give him a little go."[LNB][LNB]
