Mason off to winning start as Albion beat Blackburn

Isaac Price has scored nine goals in 22 games for Northern Ireland

Ryan Mason got off to a winning start as West Bromwich Albion head coach as his side recorded a narrow Championship victory at home to Blackburn Rovers.

Isaac Price's 15th-minute goal was enough to seal the three points in an encounter between two sides separated by only two points and two places last season.

Price slotted home from seven yards after Aune Heggebo nudged Darnell Furlong's dangerous long throw into his path.

Heggebo and Price were both denied a second Albion goal by smart saves from Balazs Toth either side of half-time.

Yuki Ohashi forced Josh Griffiths into a good stop at the other end, while he also could have had a penalty just before the break when he appeared to be pulled down by Torbjorn Heggem.

Albion were reduced to 10 men deep into injury time in the second half when captain Darnell Furlong was sent off for a second booking for a high challenge on Ohashi.

But the hosts held on and Rovers had nothing to show from Valerien Ismael's first trip back to West Brom since he left The Hawthorns in January 2022.

What was the main talking point?

Mason has led a team in a Wembley cup final, but this was his big day as a full-time head coach for the first time.

Defeat by Pep Guardiola and Manchester City in that Carabao Cup final in 2021 came in the first of two spells in interim charge of Tottenham.

Still only 34, Mason now has a chance to implement his own ideas at The Hawthorns and improve on a 2024-25 campaign in which Albion fell away badly in the final couple of months to finish ninth under Tony Mowbray.

But this was a promising start to his reign as Albion were bright from the off and eager to impress.

They probably should have killed the game off, but still possessed the defensive instincts installed by Carlos Corberan before his departure for Valencia last December to keep Blackburn at bay when they were pushed back deep into the second half.

Who stood out?

Price took a bit of time to settle at The Hawthorns following a January move from Belgian club Standard Liege with a single goal from his opening nine games.

But the 21-year-old has had a stellar start to international life with Northern Ireland, scoring seven goals in his past seven caps and he was at the heart of the Baggies' best moments.

He nearly deceived Toth with a free-kick, before being in the right place to put his side in front, while he got forward again in the second half to force another save from the Hungarian goalkeeper.

If he can bring his international form into this campaign in the Championship, Albion could have a real player on their hands.

What's next?

West Brom play fellow Championship side Derby County in the Carabao Cup first round, while Blackburn host League One outfit Bradford City.

Both matches are on Tuesday night, 19:45 BST.

What they said?

West Bromwich Albion head coach Ryan Mason told BBC WM:

"The most important thing was to start the season at home with a win and we've done that in a good manner with a clean sheet, so it's a pleasing day.

"It's nowhere near the end product, we're literally six weeks into something but the thing we can guarantee is a togetherness, a willingness to fight for each other and we saw that and, more importantly, we felt that."

Blackburn Rovers head coach Valerien Ismael told BBC Radio Lancashire:

"From the performance, it was a good away game from us. We had a lot of new faces, the players arrived this week, it was a little bit hectic and chaotic.

"But I think throughout the 90 minutes we were really solid.

"What we have to work on is our work in the final third - we should be doing better with the last cross, the last pass. We didn't really test the goalkeeper, so we must shoot more on target."