Mason full of praise for Albion centre of excellence

MANAGER Ryan Mason hailed his newly-formed centre-back pairing of Nat Phillips and Chris Mepham after Albion maintained their unbeaten record in the Championship with a 1-0 win at Stoke.

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MANAGER Ryan Mason hailed his newly-formed centre-back pairing of Nat Phillips and Chris Mepham after Albion maintained their unbeaten record in the Championship with a 1-0 win at Stoke.

A first-half goal from Phillips proved to be the difference between the two sides as the Baggies made it three victories and one draw from their opening four games.

The former Liverpool player was joined at the heart of the defence by Mepham, who signed from Bournemouth just four days ago.

Mason, who was serving a one-match touchline ban following his dismissal in the 1-1 draw with Portsmouth the previous Saturday, was full of praise for the duo following a hard-fought victory against a team who had picked up maximum points from their first three games.

"They're both at great ages in terms of centre-halves," he said. "They've amassed an incredible amount of experience but then they have the quality as well.

"They know each other from Bournemouth, which was good. Chris literally came in (on Friday), he trained a small tactical session and then went straight in.

"He showed incredible personality to do that and then to have Nat alongside him, I thought both of them led by example and gave us a real foundation to progress and win the game."