Shilen Patel jokes about banning himself as he witnesses West Brom win for the first time
Shilen Patel has joked that he doesn’t have to ban himself from The Hawthorns after watching his first West Brom victory in person.
The Baggies claimed a 2-0 win over rock-bottom Rotherham – who are already relegated – courtesy of goals from Brandon Thomas-Asante and a John Swift penalty, both in the first half.
The spot-kick for the second goal was awarded in controversial circumstances, however, with the ball appearing to strike Millers defender Lee Peltier in the face rather than the arm, while he was also standing outside of the box rather than inside it.
Nonetheless, Patel was pleased to see West Brom win and joked on X afterwards: “Great to see my first win in person. Even better that I don’t have to ban myself from the stands! Let’s do it again [on] Saturday!”
West Brom moving in the right direction
The routine win over Rotherham, who prop up the table on just 23 points – a staggering 19 points behind Birmingham City in 23rd – puts West Brom in a more comfortable position as they look to cement a playoff spot.
Three successive draws against Millwall, Watford and Stoke City had threatened to allow the teams behind the Baggies to creep up on them – seventh-placed Coventry City and eighth-placed Preston North End would be within six points of Carlos Corberan’s men if either win their game in hand.
However, the return to winning ways is welcome as West Brom look to generate momentum ahead of their likely participation in the playoffs.
They are not among the favourites for promotion this season given the strength of the campaigns exhibited by the top four of Leicester City, Ipswich Town, Leeds United and Southampton – the two that miss out on automatic promotion will be heavily fancied to do so via the playoffs – but Corberan’s side will feel they have the quality to achieve that regardless of the odds.
In other West Brom news, Jed Wallace has praised Corberan despite the Baggies boss missing out on an award.
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