Tony Pulis happy with West Brom fight after Aston Villa draw
Saturday 23 January 2016 19:13, UK
Tony Pulis praised West Brom's battling qualities after seeing them grind out a 0-0 draw with Aston Villa.
The home side had an off day at The Hawthorns and Villa made the better chances in a game between two of the lowest-scoring sides in the Premier League.
A lack of quality was clear for much of the Midlands derby and it was little surprise it finished goalless.
Nevertheless, Pulis was content with his team's efforts - even if bottom side Villa arguably deserved to come out on top.
West Brom remain in 13th position and are seven points clear of the relegation zone having played the same number of games as the three teams at the foot of the standings.
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Pulis said: "We looked very, very solid defensively but we just didn't create anything ourselves going the other way.
"We've played eight games now in four weeks and the last three of them have been away from home. We looked a bit that way today.
"But I'm absolutely delighted with the players. They weren't having it off and it wasn't going for them but they kept working and kept trying.
"Sometimes you need that and you need to do that. Let's not forget Villa have brought a squad here that's worth £84m. When you're looking at that, they're no mugs.
"We've gained another point. We've got four points over our rivals out of two games without conceding a goal against them.
"You take the season at the moment as it is. We've got a hell of a lot of work to do and we've got to play better going forward than we did today but I'm not disappointed.
"I'm really, really pleased. With them not playing as well, they kept working, chasing and having a go. That's what teams have to do sometimes, you have to grind a result out."
West Brom had Ben Foster back in goal for a Premier League fixture for the first time in more than 10 months after a knee injury.
Pulis was pleased to see him keep a clean sheet and added: "We've missed him at the start of this season and the end of last season.
"Boaz [Myhill] has done brilliantly for us, absolutely fantastic, but Ben is an England goalkeeper. He was so assured today and was absolutely fantastic. It's lovely to have him back."
