West Bromwich Albion 1 - Southampton 1

Date:	Wednesday 11th March 2026
Competition:	Sky Bet Championship
WBA: 6.9	(4-4-2) O'Leary 5.8, Imray 6.6, Gilchrist 6.6, Campbell 7.1, Styles 6.9, Wallace 5.8 (Bostock, 77 4.9), Molumby 6.8 (Mowatt, 77 4.7), Diakité 7.1 (Whitwell, 87 4.5), Price 6.4, Dike 6.4 (Maja, 77 4.6), Heggebø 6.6 (Mustapha, 92 4.4) Unused subs: Griffiths, Phillips, Jimoh-Aloba, Williams Manager: James Morrison (c) 6.9
Southampton: 5.7	Peretz, Bree (Archer, 83), Harwood-Bellis, Stephens, Manning, Downes (Bragg, 66), Charles, Matsuki (Edozie, 66), Azaz, Léo Scienza (Fellows, 37 4.5), Stewart (Larin, 46) Unused subs: Long, Wood, Jander, Romeu
Scorers:	Molumby (45); Larin (91)
Referee:	Ben Speedie 5.2
Attendance:	22,127 Home Fans 7.4 Away Fans 5.4

Submit your ratings for this game by clicking here:

Ratings submitted so far: 17

Brendan Clegg:

That was quite harsh on us but we have to take the positives.

We played well. There was a lot there to like. We didn’t just back up the Sheff Utd performance, we were incrementally better. Has there actually been 2 games on the spin this season where we’ve played well and then played better in the next game? I don’t think so.

And this was a better performance. Better because with another game playing this way the players looked more comfortable in it; better because Dike and Heggebø did a lot better than at Sheffield and started to look much more of a handful; better because despite being a little bit toothless up top, Southampton were a good team who passed the ball very well across the back and through midfield... better than most in the league.

The changes made sense from a limited pool of options - Wallace for his experience, Gilchrist because he is a centre back ultimately although I think many of us would have put Diakite in there and brought in Mowatt.

But I thought the changes were justified and it was a mixed bag of an opening 30 minutes. I thought Southampton controlled it without hurting us too much but right from the off we were never out of it - be it long throws or just getting up and around them we were at least creating chances or giving them something to think about. In that opening period it was clear how much running we were doing and the effort being put in - and there were one or two sloppy passes with Diakite especially undoing any good work with a few loose ones.

And as the half went on we grew into it more (and as we did, the crowd reacted), snapping into 50/50s, moving the ball slightly better, our strikers winning the first challenge even if we didn't make much of it. Our biggest issue was a lack of quality and composure again - Price snatching at one shot on the volley when the ball dropped over his shoulder and Wallace especially wasting 3 or 4 good crossing openings by taking too long and hitting the defender/first man or just getting his crosses all wrong.

Late in the half we won a corner through sensible chasing down of a channel ball without making a foul and from it we got the opener - Dike powering a a header at goal, then winning the rebound and Molumby doing really well to touch, turn and shoot in one motion.

The second half was similar with Southampton having a lot of the ball but if anything we were more threatening. There was probably a 20 minute spell where the ball stuck a lot more and we broke at pace playing decent stuff. As has often been the case this season we just couldn't find the quality strike or pass to get a second goal.

After that there is no doubt we started to look leggy... Dike looked gassed, Diakite kept cramping, Wallace was probably gone. Really tricky given the squad we had but Morrison made the changes. I wouldn't have taken Molumby off but he was swapped for Mowatt. Bostock and Maja came on for Wallace and Dike.

We were hanging on a bit but Southampton didn't create too much and as Diakite was out on his feet he made way for Whitwell.

As the 6 minute sign came up it felt a lot but at the same time we didn't look massively vulnerable... until almost right away Southampton got down our right. There were plenty of bodies back and they were forced inside to put in a cross that didn't look especially dangerous but from 15 yards their player looped in a header of the bar and post. Maybe O'Leary could have done better but it was a bit of a freak one... maybe Campbell should have gone out and challenged the header... such small margins.

For me it didn't detract from a performance that showed hope and spirit. I still think the mountain is probably too big to climb but I'd have taken the point and performance before the game. It will be incredibly difficult to hit that level and energy again on Saturday and I would rather we didn't rotate for the sake of it - let's hope they can find a way to recover and go again the same.

O'Leary - 6 Is more assured and his kicking was generally good. Maybe could have clawed the goal away but did well overall.
Imray - 7 Another solid performance generally. Looked useful when he did get forward too.
Gilchrist - 7 Didn't do much wrong. Solid, brave, low risk.
Campbell - 7 As above. It can't be underestimated how much of a difference having one fairly mobile centre half makes a difference to our back line.
Styles - 7 Very controlled and calm, avoided a booking, kept his shape, didn't really get exposed by Fellows when he came on.
Wallace - 6 Loads of effort and running... let down by poor quality in key moments but would be churlish to give him less than a 6.
Diakite - 7 Sloppy passing but gave absolutely everything and constantly got a foot in.
Molumby - 7 Good goal, was very reliable for us in there, kept the ball well, was a miss when we took him off
Price - 7 Gave everything, got back a couple of times to make some important challenges and looked a bit of a threat.
Heggebo - 7 Did really well as the game went on, started getting hold of it and rolling them... just needs some better service
Dike - 7 Big improvement on Sheff Utd... used his frame far better and competed more. Did tire.

Maja, Bostock - 5 couldn't get into it
Mowatt - 5 Doesn't have the legs of the others

I’m running the Manchester Marathon in April for Refuge. Huge thanks to those Baggies all over who have sponsored me already.

Link: Brendan's fundraiser for Refuge