Steve Bruce: West Bromwich Albion players are 'fit to wear the shirt', says Baggies boss

Steve Bruce's first victory as West Brom boss came against one of his former clubs, at Hull - just as his first defeat had, at Sheffield United

New West Bromwich Albion manager Steve Bruce admits he was proud at the way his players reacted to midweek criticism by rallying at Hull City to earn him his first win as Baggies boss.

Albion fans chanted that the players were "not fit to wear the shirt" when they were limply beaten 2-0 at home by Swansea City on Monday night.

But the Baggies bounced back from being booed off to win 2-0 at Hull.

"That's how football changes within a week," Bruce told BBC Radio WM.

"From being told they're not good enough to wear the shirt to a standing ovation.

"The one thing the Albion fans want to see is their team playing with a bit of pride and in a certain way.

"It's been a difficult month in terms of the players' confidence and the run they've been on, but let's hope we can now really get started - and let's see if we can make a charge."

Youngster Taylor Gardner-Hickman had a positive impact in midfield on his first start under Steve Bruce

Albion have been on a sorry run since their early season form under then boss Valerian Ismael had them top of the table in early October.

They were still third, six points off the top and four points behind Fulham when Karlan Grant's goal beat Hull at The Hawthorns on 3 November.

But, until completing the double over the Tigers on Saturday, Albion had won just three times in 18 Championship games and had scored just once in their previous seven.

'Time to pull our fingers out'

Other than the bottom three clubs, only Hull have a worse goal ratio this season of Albion's 37 in 35 games. But, although Albion now face two testing home games against the current top two - Huddersfield Town and runaway leaders Fulham - the Baggies are at least back on an upward curve.

And Bruce admits that having to sacrifice big target man Andy Carroll to revert to a 3-5-2 formation with the recall of top scorer Grant proved a hit, along with the introduction of young midfielder Taylor Gardner-Hickman and the availability after his four-game suspension of skipper Jake Livermore.

"Jake Livermore sat in midfield and did what Jake Livermore does," said Bruce.

"He can control games when he does that. The addition of Jake coming back and the young kid [Gardner-Hickman] just gave us that edge and that added energy level. Taylor's already a bit of a crowd favourite. A youngun can give you that bit of freshness - and Matt Clarke brought a lot of stability at the back.

"But that's got to be a given if you play for West Bromwich Albion in the Championship. And I was just pleased for the supporters as they were terrific.

"I'm disappointed, if I'm being brutally honest, that I haven't had a bigger reaction in terms of results, but we have we now have two big games coming up - and it's time to pull our fingers out."

Karlan Grant has scored in 10 games in the Championship this season - and Albion have won nine of them

Albion's 12-goal leading marksman Grant admits that the recent terrace abuse from the Albion fans has been painful to deal with.

"It hurts us as much as it hurts them," he told BBC Radio WM. "The boys have been down. We don't want to lose games. But we've all got to be as one. That's the main thing.

"We've not been great home or away recently, so it's good to get a win.

"Our focus for now is just winning games - that's our main priority. I know it's been tough for the fans, but we need stick together and hopefully we can end the season well. That's all we're thinking of."

West Bromwich Albion boss Steve Bruce and top scorer Karlan Grant were talking to BBC Radio WM's Rob Gurney.