West Brom’s Steven Reid: We’re disappointed we didn’t nick all three points from Stoke at the end

Steven Reid – West Brom, (Getty Images)

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West Brom’s Steven Reid has told of his disappointment not to have taken all three points away from the Britannia Stadium after a late surge saw them come back from a goal behind against Stoke to clinch a vital point in their battle for survival at the bottom of the Premier League.

The 29-year-old thought that with Carlos Vela’s late goal and the Baggies’ subsequent momentum, his side could have gone on to win the game they looked likely to lose before the clock struck 87 minutes.

“I think we defended pretty well tonight. We knew it was going to be a difficult game and we’re disappointed we didn’t nick it with Carlos Vela coming on,” Reid told Sky Sports.

Vela’s goal was subject to cries of offside from the Stoke players, but they were waved away by the referee’s assistant.

Asked whether he thought the contentious goal should have stood Reid said: “From where I was it looked like he made a little run into the box [from an onside position].”

The midfielder puts the result down to the team’s new found organisation under new manager Roy Hodgson’s stewardship.

He said: “I think we’re organised a lot more difficult to break down we’re a lot more solid at the back. A couple of additions have helped – when Carlos gets half a chance more often than not he will put it away.

“It’s got to that stage of the season now where no matter what happens we can’t give up.”

West Brom goalkeeper Scott Carson agreed with his teammate, adding: “Obviously we’ve worked on [defending set pieces] and it was a real advantage to Stoke with [Rory] Delap’s long throws.

“I think after the first 20 minutes we started to get the ball down, the [long] game didn’t really suit us and in the last few minutes we showed a great attitude and it’s disappointed us we haven’t come away with it.”

Carson put Stoke’s opening goal down to a failure in defending, with several players not carrying out the instructions they were given.

He said: “[Delap] was on me for the corner but I think we had a couple of people out of position and it caught us off guard a bit.”

It was the goalkeeper at the other end, Stoke’s Asmir Begovic, that stood in the way of a West Brom win – the Bosnian pulling off a string of heroic saves at the death to deny Vela, among others, the chance to take the Baggies’ tally to two.

He spoke of his frustration at not finishing the game with a win and thanked the Stoke fans for their support on the night.

Begovic said through his official Twitter account: “Gutted not to win tonight! We will take the point and move on to Saturday. Thanks for support. Come on Stoke!”