Jonny Evans thanks West Brom fans for clapping the players off
Jonny Evans has thanked the Albion fans for clapping the players off the pitch at Huddersfield because he understands the difficulty following the Baggies at the moment.
Despite the toxic atmosphere in the away end at the John Smith’s Stadium, supporters applauded the players as they trudged back into the dressing room after their 1-0 defeat.
The majority of players returned the favour, aiming claps towards the 2,340 travelling fans behind the goal before heading down the tunnel.
It came after the fans hurled chants at head coach Tony Pulis during the second half at Huddersfield.
And Evans said the team appreciated the support after failing to win any of their last 10 games in all competitions.
“Obviously the supporters are disappointed,” he said. “It’s difficult for them because they haven’t seen a win in a while, especially on the road.
“But they clapped us off the pitch at the end and that was good to see.”
The Baggies have only won one game on the road in 2017; a 1-0 smash and grab at Turf Moor near the start of the season.
They were unable to break down Huddersfield’s ten men during the last half hour on Saturday and didn’t test Jonas Lossl until injury time, when the keeper pulled off two fantastic saves to deny substitutes James McClean and Matt Phillips.
Evans admitted the team should have created more chances in the first hour, and said the only solution to the problem was to keep working at the problems on the training pitch.
“Maybe we were unfortunate,” said the skipper. “Their keeper made a few good saves at the end which was important for them as they were determined to hang on to it.
“When they went down to 10 men we knew we could overload them but maybe we should have done a bit better creating some chances early on.
“We could have won the game but their keeper has pulled off some good saves and that’s the way it goes sometimes.
“It’s been difficult because it’s been a while since we’ve had a win. It’s now about keeping our heads up and carrying on.
"We’ve got the international break now and then two tough games against Chelsea and Spurs. You can come up with a lot of clichés at a time like this but we’ve just got to keep going and keep working at it.”
Evans is expected to be lining up alongside Albion team-mates Gareth McAuley and Chris Brunt in the first leg of Northern Ireland’s World Cup qualifier against Switzerland this Thursday.
