West Brom manager and former Middlesbrough player James Morrison expressed his comments after the game.
James Morrison believes Middlesbrough can challenge for promotion after West Brom’s defeat at the Riverside Stadium.
Morrison’s West Brom suffered their first league loss of the season at Borough on Saturday. Will Lankshear’s brace proved the difference against his previous team, and Alfie Jones finished things off.
Borough moved ahead of West Brom in the table with the win, as Kim Hellberg’s side looks to collect up as many early points as possible while integrating new players.
Morrison, who went from Boro’s youth to become a first-team player before moving on, was asked for his thoughts on Hellberg’s side and their possibilities this season, having already played against fellow well-known clubs Norwich and Burnley.
Morrison added, “I believe they will be up there. Last season, we witnessed how strong they were, and they finished fifth.
“Will Lankshear has arrived to take his place in the box. He was silent today, but he showed up with two goals. I witnessed his qualities when he was at West Brom, and I have plenty of time for him. It’s good to see him and Borough doing well.”
Borough are expected to make another promotion drive this season after spending heavily this summer, with their finances boosted by some large sales in previous years.
When asked about the disparity in squad value, Morrison responded, “Obviously, the price tag is the price tag. Some clubs are fortunate enough to be able to spend such sums of money.
“For other teams, you only need to be clever and unique in the market. “I believe in our players.”
Morrison has solid reasons to believe in his players. Borough won 3-1 at the Riverside, but it wasn’t the complete story.
West Brom dominated the first half, albeit without creating many opportunities. However, Borough have never faced a team with better ball possession at the Riverside during Hellberg’s tenure.
Morrison reflected on the game, saying, “The key thing was the timing of the goals.” We talk a lot about managing momentum and dividing starts in half.
“The first goal was offside, but I won’t complain too much. Hopefully we’ll get a few this year. We came back into the game as well.
“At times, I believed we were really comfortable. How many times have you seen Middlesbrough lose control of the ball?
“I thought we’d have to suffer at times because Middlesborough was so good in possession, but we looked the most comfortable. But I don’t want to be the squad that dominates but allows foolish goals.
“I’ve learnt how far we’ve come in such a short period of time, but I’ve also learned not to get ahead of ourselves. We played this beautiful football today without creating many chances or conceding goals.”
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