West Brom boss Clarke hails 'fantastic' Foster after Liverpool win

The Baggies manager was full of praise for his goalkeeper after he made a crucial penalty save in a hard-fought 1-0 win which sees his side leapfrog the Reds in the table

Steve Clarke hailed a "fantastic" performance from goalkeeper Ben Foster as his West Brom side emerged 2-0 winners away to Liverpool on Monday night.

The keeper saved a Steven Gerrard penalty to keep the score at 0-0 in the 76th minute before Gareth McAuley and Romelu Lukaku netted to give the Baggies their first victory of 2013.

FOSTER CARE
PLAYER RATING | BEN FOSTER
	The West Brom keeper was the man of the match by a long way. Pulled off several stunning stops and capped an excellent performance with a fine penalty save from Steven Gerrard.

Despite his delight at victory, the Scot did not believe that his side should have conceded a spot-kick for an alleged foul on Luis Suarez by Jonas Olsson.

"He's a fantastic goalkeeper," Clarke told Sky Sports after the match. "That's why we spent a bit of money on him.

"I think it [the penalty] was a bit harsh - looking back on it, I think it’s more than harsh - but I think it spurred us on a little bit after Ben saved the penalty and we thought we could go on to win it from here.

"To come here and win against a Liverpool side that is playing as well as anyone at the moment is fantastic. Full credit to the team for the effort we put in. For a change, something went right; 2013 hasn't been the best year so it's good to come here and play well. it was great win for us.

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12/1	Steve Clarke is 12/1 with BetVictor to be named LMA Manager of the Year

"Hopefully we can use this win as a springboard to move forward and continue to move up the league."

Clarke was able to select first-choice midfield pairing Claudio Yacob and Youssouf Mulumbu after an injury-enforced absence and playing at the Africa Cup of Nations respectively, with the former Liverpool assistant delighted to be able to call on the Argentine and DR Congo international alongside James Morrison.

He added: "You always want your best players on the pitch and we haven’t had those three on the pitch all at the same time for a while now.

"The players who have come in in their place have done well, but when you have a way of playing and a style of play, you want your best players on the pitch."