Roberto De Zerbi felt Albion deserved to beat Leicester instead of having to settle for a point at the King Power Stadium after a 2-2 draw.
Kaoru Mitoma put Albion in front with his fourth goal of the season before Leicester hit back either side of half-time through goals from Mark Albrighton and Harvey Barnes. De Zerbi sent on Evan Ferguson and he headed in his third goal in four matches with two minutes to go to lift Albion into sixth place.
“I think we deserved to win,” said De Zerbi. “Football is like this and we almost lost the game but we played well and I saw the stats, they are incredible for us.
“Leicester were never too dangerous. In the second half [we made] one mistake and they score from a set piece but before that corner there was a corner which should have been a goal kick to us.
“We stayed almost all the second half in Leicester’s half and so I am happy for the result and for Ferguson, it was a great header. He is only 18, a very good player. I want to help him progress without too much pressure, the same for Jan Paul van Hecke. Mitoma also scored a fantastic goal.
De Zerbi felt Albion should have been awarded a penalty in the second half when Danny Welbeck went down in the box, but referee Thomas Bramall waved away sustained appeals and then booked the Italian for his protests.
“There was a clear, clear, clear penalty. He gave me a yellow card which was right but I don’t know really why [the penalty] wasn’t given. I didn’t understand it.
“It’s an important point. We made some mistakes but I’m proud of how we played after Leicester’s second goal. The second goal was a good signal for us for the second half of the season, how we fought for the result.”