Di Matteo pleased by Bednar return

Posted Wednesday, August 26, 2009 by PA

Manager Roberto Di Matteo praised striker Roman Bednar on his return following a drugs ban as West Brom booked their place in the third round of the Carling Cup with a 4-3 extra-time win at home to Rotherham.

Bednar was handed a three-month suspension by the club in May after he was caught in possession of cocaine.

That ban expired this week and after Di Matteo turned to him as a 64th-minute substitute on Wednesday night, the Italian boss praised the striker's return to the side.

"I think Roman did well," he said.

"He has been out for a while so it was a good game for him to start and get his match fitness back and I think he will get better with every game now. He is part of our plans."

Albion finally ended the resistance of League Two side Rotherham when Simon Cox, a #1.9m summer signing from Swindon, struck his first goal for the club four minutes from the end of extra time.

Di Matteo added: "Strikers need goals to boost their confidence so we hope that it will be the first of many to come from him.

"It is a long season so we will be patient and hope to see more goals."

Di Matteo was also impressed by the battling qualities of his side after they had gone 3-2 behind in extra time.

"It is always interesting to see your team play," added Di Matteo. "A lot of stuff I liked and some I didn't as we conceded some sloppy goals.

"But on the other hand we showed good character and reaction and we kept going.

"Physically we were very strong in extra time and we kept going to the last minute."

Albion twice took the lead in normal time through Craig Beattie and Graham Dorrans, only to be pegged back through Micky Cummins and Tom Pope.

Pope's second in extra time looked set to put Rotherham on course for another upset following their success in the previous round against Derby.

But Beattie drew Albion level as he completed his brace before Cox finally struck the decisive blow.

Rotherham boss Mark Robins was full of praise for the battling qualities of his side - but was disappointed they could not pull off an upset.

Robins, who felt Albion's opening goal was offside, said: "I am over the moon with the players but really disappointed at the end because we gave them a really good game.

"We got our noses in front and then proceeded to stop defending. That is the nit-picking side of it.

"The other side was that was that we passed the ball well, created chances, scored great goals, made them look ordinary at times and that is testament to the character of the players.

"I have said to the players that they should come out of the game with plenty of confidence because those Albion players were in the Premier League last season.

"We passed the ball as well as them at times and played the game with a bit of freedom. They went at them and we caused them all sorts of problems.

"The character was there, we came back twice and then got our noses in front but the two goals they scored in extra time were disappointing to concede as we were only four minutes away from it going to penalties but at the end of the day it was a magnificent effort."