Veltman had eye on clean sheet

Joel Veltman helped Albion keep a clean sheet against Newcastle two days after suffering a nasty cut just below his left eye.

The Dutch defender had to have six stitches after an accidental training-ground collision with Alexis Mac Allister.

“It was just a total accident. Initially it looked quite bad, but the club doctors did an amazing job,” he said. “I have a bit of a black eye, but I was absolutely fine during the game.”

Veltman enjoyed his fourth clean sheet in 23 Premier League appearances in the 3-0 win and also contributed his first assist of the season when his pass allowed Leo Trossard to open the scoring just before half-time.

“It's funny, I talked about it with Leo before the game. He wasn't really playing as a central striker but coming from deep, like a No.10. I knew there would be space behind their right central-defender, I managed to find him with the pass and it was an amazing finish.

“We had a bit of luck when they hit the post but there have been lots of games when we've been unlucky so perhaps it has evened itself out a bit. At 2-0, the game was finished but it was nice to get the third goal as well.

“Our game plan was quite clear, we looked to counter-attack and when we lost the ball our reaction was perfect, we kept winning it back and putting them under pressure. We also won a lot of second balls.”

Albion have a six-point cushion above the relegation zone going into the international break.

“We have some tough games coming up against Manchester United, Everton and Chelsea so it was important to win the last two games and create that gap,” said Veltman, who linked up with the Netherlands squad on Sunday.

They play World Cup qualifiers against Turkey on Wednesday, Latvia on Saturday and Gibraltar on 30^th March.