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Potter pleased but says Albion can still improve

Head coach assesses 2-0 win over Watford.

By Bruce Talbot • 21 August 2021

By Bennett Dean
Graham Potter said his team deserved their 2-0 win over Watford.

Graham Potter was delighted after Albion won their opening two top-flight games for the first time in their history.

But the head coach admits there is still room for improvement after the 2-0 win over Watford at the Amex.

First-half goals from Shane Duffy and Neal Maupay enabled Albion to build on their opening-day win over Burnley although Maupay went off at the break with a shoulder injury.

“I thought we played well first half,” said Potter. “Shane [Duffy] scored a great header and we had good attacks and scored two good goals. Shane has done really, really well, he’s been a breath of fresh air. It’s a credit to him and we just want to help him enjoy his football which he is doing.

“The second goal came from a good recovery, a pressing action which was positive. We deserved the lead and probably won the game with the scoreline at half-time. At that stage you know the opposition are going to respond and they did, we had to defend at times in the second half but we did that well. I am really happy with the three points and the performance, but obviously there are things to work on to improve."

Potter felt Albion got the balance right between attack and defence.

“You have to attack well, because if the game turns over too quickly it favours them and the quality of their front three is high as we saw last week when they beat Aston Villa,” he said.

“We had to balance ourselves well and be in a good position to recover the ball which generally we were. It’s not easy to keep a side with that attacking talent quiet and in the second half we had to defend a bit more frantically, but we did that well.”

By Bennett Dean
Neal Maupay made it two goals in two, but had to be withdrawn at half-time with a shoulder injury.

Asked for his assessment on Maupay’s injury, Potter added, “Neal’s not too bad, we will see how he is over the next day or so. We’re hopeful it’s just a few days or weeks. It’s his shoulder and we don’t know the nature of the injury for sure.

“We’ve still got Danny Welbeck, Tariq Lamptey, Joel Veltman and Dan Burn to come back. The squad is good in terms of numbers and depth. You’re always looking to see if you can improve, that’s natural, but I am happy with the players and my job is to help them improve.”