This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

West Bromwich Albion have received a glowing assessment from one rival Championship manager following their emphatic victory on Wednesday evening as Lee Johnson waxed lyrical about the Baggies after his side were defeated 4-1 at the Hawthorns.

What’s he said?

The west Midlanders returned to the top of the table with three points, leapfrogging Leeds United on their way while opening a gap of seven points to third-placed Fulham.

Four different goalscorers got on the scoresheet with Hal Robson-Kanu and Charlie Austin both bagging in back-to-back matches while returning left-back Kieran Gibbs and Matheus Pereira also managed to find the net.

Speaking in his post-match press conference, the Bristol City boss heaped praise on Albion, he said:

“All credit should go to West Brom but we look at it from our point of view where we’re hurting after a loss and we have to reflect. The result is that we’ve lost three points and we’ve taken a bit of a pride bashing.

“In one sense, I thought that West Brom looked like a Premier League outfit. That was a good test for us. We should stand up to that better than we did today. If we want to go where we want to go then the players need to demand more from each other.”

Music to your ears

As the Baggies continue to occupy the throne atop the Championship’s summit, the possibility that they will earn a return to the promised land becomes more and more of a reality.

That seven-point gap in the automatic promotion places could be a godsend come the festive period as fixtures tend to come thick and fast as we enter the New Year – if Bilic’s men can still hold a healthy position, then you’d imagine they can call all the way.

Johnson’s words ‘looked like a Premier League outfit’ will be music to the ears of many as it only offers up further encouragement that they could play in the top-flight once again after a two-season absence.

Averaging over 2.1 points per game will undoubtedly stand them in good stead if they can keep it up as 92 or more points has been enough to dodge the playoffs in four of the last five seasons.

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In other news, sporting and technical director Luke Dowling continues to make all the right decisions as he has appointed a former Baggies star to their academy setup…