Newton eyes Magpies pursuit

Newton: Happy with Rams win

Related links

Teams

• Derby County
• West Bromwich Albion

Also see

• Championship video highlights
• Championship fixtures
• Championship table
• Championship stats

Assistant manager Eddie Newton has called for West Brom to string a winning run together and catch Newcastle at the top of the Championship after beating Derby.

The Baggies shook off their disappointment of going out of the FA Cup in midweek with a 3-1 comeback against the Rams on Saturday, to move back into the automatic promotion places.

Albion, who had picked up just a point from their previous two games, looked to be heading for defeat when Chris Porter gave Derby a 49th-minute lead.

But a double from Chris Brunt and a strike from substitute Simon Cox in the space of 15 minutes dramatically turned the game in the Hawthorn outfit's favour and they returned to second place after Nottingham Forest lost at Leicester.

They are now six points behind Newcastle and Newton said: "It is the push towards the end of the season and at the end of the day it is all about winning.

Hard slog

"We know it will be a hard slog because everyone is fighting for something so there are no easy games left.

"We need to try and get away from Forest and keep putting Newcastle under pressure.

"We have to keep concentrating and take one game at a time. That is all you can do. It is in our hands at the moment and we will now try and get on a run."

Despite finding themselves trailing against Derby, Newton always felt confident Albion could turn the game around.

He added: "We saw Derby's level start to drop off in the latter stages of the game and we know we can keep going to the 90 minutes and we knew we would create chances.

"It helps the spirit in the dressing room when you have worked so hard and you get your just rewards."

Encouragement

Disappointed Derby boss Nigel Clough claimed it was a "nearly" performance from his side and admitted they have to start turning good displays into points on the board.

The Rams also lost after playing well against Swansea in their previous game and Clough said: "It is probably a reflection of where we are as a team.

"It is a nearly sort of performance again where we could have come away with the three points.

"We matched one of the best sides in the league, if not the best, for the majority of the game but don't have quite enough at the moment to see it through.

"We have to keep working on them, keep working with them and drilling certain things into them.

"We knocked the ball about well and scored an excellent goal. We are nearly there.

"It is an improvement but when you come away with no points it doesn't feel like that.

"There are grounds for encouragement in some ways but you have to get a point.

"We can't keep saying, it's a good performance against a good side, we have to get a point on the board as a reward or the performances are worth nothing."