West Bromwich Albion 0, Blues 1 - reaction

It was a good win. I thought we went to another level, in terms of where we have been recently. Away from home we got the victory but I thought there were some really good bits of play in there as well. It’s a tough game at the Hawthorns, you know what it’s going to be like. We made a bright start and didn’t invite much pressure. We had two or three good chances to score and their 'keeper made a couple of good saves before we did score.

From there we had a bit more calmness about us to work the ball a little bit. It was periods of possession and putting them under pressure. I don’t think we gave too much away but obviously they are always a threat on the breakaway and stuff.

And second-half was a little bit more scrappy but, again, there were some good moments and we probably should have had another penalty and another goal probably. I don’t think we let them into our box much in that second-half. That was a good thing about it. So, yes. It's for the fans, these games. It's local pride. For the Blues fans to come to the Hawthorns and win is extra special.

On Blues being better with the ball and playing a hybrid style

We put them under pressure with our set-pieces and our power. That play forward, run forward mentality. But then there were moments of calmness to work the ball, switch the play. Trying to get in between their shape a little bit. I want us to keep developing and improving as a team. I don't just want us to say well we've nicked a result here and there. We can always get better. I thought one of the areas I want us to get better is with the ball. To create more chances and control the games a bit better than we have been doing. I thought today we did it better than we did at Derby and Wrexham, I would say.

On whether August Priske now has the penalty-taking responsibility

Jay Stansfield is a very good penalty taker, as is Marvin Ducksch, but it’s nice when you see a number nine step up and take a penalty. He won it. Good cross. Set-piece. He gets pulled down. Steps up, picks his spot. He’s technically really good - left and right foot - and it’s always good for a striker to score goals.

On Bright Osayi-Samuel receiving the man of the match award

I thought he was excellent. He had internationals. He didn't come back to us until fairly late within it all. Yes, he is very, very solid. Picked his moments to break forward. Used the ball well. Difficult to beat. He has been a revelation really this season. The challenge for him is to stay hungry and keep going, as I have challenged them all to do. They can all play better. We can definitely play better. And that's what I try and work on every day because good isn't good enough sometimes, you have got to push on.

Max Bird returning from injury to get 21 minutes of action

I had it in my mind before the game with Liam Millar and Jhon Solis, do you start them or bring them on? I thought we'd start them, give them an hour, I had that in my head. They both looked jaded at half-time but they pushed on as best they could. They've had a lot of travel, they played in the week for their countries, pretty much on the other side of the world. But anyway. I had it in my mind for Max and Patrick Roberts to come on. I thought they contributed well. Max has got a nice left foot. He is calm on the ball. He has got good pictures (in his head), he can play one-touch, two-touch. He is different to the others that we have, in that he's left-footed so he gives you a different kind of balance in there. He did well. It was nice to see Taylor Gardner-Hickman get back on the pitch after a while. Dimmy and Marvin Ducksch. I thought all the subs contributed.

Blues penalty claims and Brayann Pereira's tackles

With the Roberts one, when you travel at that speed - and he's a real jinker - Mepham dangles his leg and if there's any contact, that would be a penalty because you are going that quick. Thankfully it didn't cost us. I was surprised with the Alex Cochrane tackle. It was the same player that did one in the corner and another tackle . . . it's a dangerous tackle, a late tackle. Especially when someone is passing the ball and you're coming in with your studs like that. These things you don't harp on about when you win, you just let them go. But, on another day, that could have cost us.

Another away win, are Blues a more knowing team on the road?

I think the players smelt it. We’ve found a formula away from home. It took us until January last year to win three games away from home and here we are in October and we’ve already done it. You need a bit of football but you need fight – you need both if you’re going to be a good team and that’s what I always try and say to them. We’ve looked like we’re up for the fight when it’s there, we can do that and roll our sleeves up, we can dig in and scrap; and then we’ve got a bit of quality to play. That's a very, very good combination in this game.

On being a more clinical to make it easier on themselves

That's it. So many games, we have to kill teams off. We have to go 1-0, 2-0, or 2-1, 3-1, then it’s a long, long way back for them. That’s probably the next step for us. If we can get to that then we’ll be a real force.

Blues finding more ways to win games

All it is, is for the first 100 games I was here we played football, a lot of football. We were used to having a lot of possession, 70 per cent or 65 per cent most games. So they know how to do it. But we found we weren't punching enough with that. Sometimes it was a little bit . . . we would run out of steam in the final third. So we have gone in the summer and looked at things. I wanted to get a more physical team. A team that can make transitions more dangerous, set-pieces more dangerous because you need to be able to use those things. Playing that play forward, run forward mentality, getting through the lines quickly is a good way for us to go. But, there's time in the game when you've got space to play and if you can get a good structure and a good positioning, then it causes the opposition a problem. Then you have got multiple weapons, you are not relying on one thing. And if the opposition stop one thing then another thing presents itself as a problem. So you need to score a lot of goals in this league if you are going to be successful. That's one thing you need to do. We have scored 13 in our first nine games. Which is more than we had at this stage last season. But you need to score goals. I think it's having that variation in our attacking play. We have always remained aggressive in the press since I have been here. That will probably never change, because I feel that is the best way to put teams under pressure. We had loads of examples there today when we were winning the ball back high or not letting them get into a rhythm with their wingers and how they move. And that's a staple. I want hard work. Hard work is what I want without the ball but you need to have a bit of variation with it, which we are showing.

The bench looking strong

We have got players back at a decent time. Some of them like Max and Dimmy couldn't have started because of the weeks they have had, but they could do 20 minutes off the bench, half-an-hour. Patrick is coming into it a bit more now. Marvin is getting back going a little bit. Taylor is back part of the squad. We have got a nice feel to it. And they are going to be needed, two big games coming up this week now. We have just got to get them recovered and use the this squad.