Jason Steele couldn’t have been prouder of Albion after their 2-0 win over Cardiff City in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night.
The 31-year-old was the oldest Albion player on the pitch – with the outfield players’ average just 20-and-a-half years old – as the youngsters put in a sterling display.
"It was a very special night. First and foremost I was honoured to be captain.
"The lads’ performance was so good. There has to be a lot of proud families and people in the club of all of the young boys who played.
"They were so brave in how they played, and there were times when it was impossible to build from the back and find the spare man, but they showed so much character to deal with it. We fought like dogs, and in fairness, we made some great chances and on another night, we could have scored more."
The keeper was particularly impressed by the centre-back pairing in front of him of Antef Tsoungui (18) and Haydon Roberts (19).
"They were absolutely incredible, I have played with them before in the EFL Trophy and I knew they would be fine.
“I am so proud of them to come here and play against two international strikers in James Collins and Keiffer Moore – they dealt with it so well and they looked really assured to me."
The victory at the Cardiff City Stadium made it three wins from Albion’s opening three competitive matches of the new campaign.
"It’s massive for momentum. You switch your phone on after the game and the first texts you see is on our squad WhatsApp group from boys that aren’t playing and that shows what a great spirit we have here.
"It doesn’t matter who plays as we are all behind each other, and that is a special feeling to have in a squad.
“We have started well, but we have to manage expectations against the reality and the reality is we have a big game against Everton on Saturday.”