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Potter: The fans were fantastic

Albion’s wait for a 2019/20 Premier League home win continues after Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to Southampton, but head coach Graham Potter was keen to praise the club’s supporters for the terrific atmosphere created at the Amex Stadium.

By Kieran Cleeves • 26 August 2019

By Paul Hazlewood
Graham Potter

There were 30,090 fans packed into the Amex for our second home match in as many weeks, and Potter thanked those who supported the team on a difficult afternoon, which saw Albion reduced to ten men after Florin Andone’s 30th-minute sending off.

He said, “The fans have been fantastic and really got behind the team. I think they appreciate the effort the guys are putting in and what we’re trying to do.

“They stuck with us through the game and helped us when we were down to ten men, when the players were very tired.

“I thought it was a really good atmosphere and the crowd were fantastic from start to finish.”

By Paul Hazlewood
Glenn Murray waits for Southampton to return to the halfway line.

Saints substitute Moussa Djenepo opened the scoring for the visitors ten minutes into the second half at the Amex, and Potter felt his side could have done more to prevent the goal, but accepted it can happen.

“We were on the attack and they broke quite quickly; we had a couple of opportunities to deal with the ball and we didn’t.

“If you’re getting pegged back, pegged back, pegged back, and they score, then okay, but I felt we were the team on top at that point.

“It’s hard to control everything, especially in the Premier League, but the response from the players was really good.”

By Paul Hazlewood
Neal Maupay's header goes just wide of the top corner.

Albion sit on four points after three Premier League matches, ahead of Saturday’s top-flight visit to Manchester City, and Potter assessed the early stages of his time in charge.

“Results-wise, we’re probably a little unfortunate to only have the points we have, but a lot of teams will say that in the Premier League.

“You’ve just got to accept what you get and, regardless of the result, look to improve — that’s what we’ve got to do.

“We won't get too excited when we win and we won’t get too down when we lose, but clearly we want to improve.”