Terry Wills on Albion’s win against Palace and their impending game at Chelsea.

Let’s not waste too much time and space looking back at the Baggies win against a struggling Crystal Palace side. The biggest crowd of the season to date, boosted by a large contingent of noisy Palace fans, had to endure not only a bitterly cold day but also a game that did very little to lift the overall gloom.

Although a 2-0 win sounds comforting and convincing it was anything but. Until Gareth McCauley sealed the victory with another splendid headed goal, at times I found it difficult to ascertain which team were struggling at the foot of the table. But as disappointing as the overall display there were individual plus points. Morgan Amalfitiano moving back to replace an injured Billy Jones, the usual expected effort from Youssouf Mulumbu, non stop running and probing from adjudged Man of the Match Stephane Sessegnon, and inevitably the Baggie who’s dominating both local and national headlines – Saido Berahino.

Before he opened the scoring neither team gave the impression they were capable of breaking the deadlock. Enter Saido. Picking up a pass from Sessegnon he adroitly controlled the ball with his right foot, in an instant switching it to his left, before crashing the ball home. This is a priceless asset that’s left Steve Clarke and every Baggies fan clamouring for the club to sign him on a long term contract, and the sooner the better.

This week and, being honest, unless Albion are at their very best I can’t envisage anything other than a defeat against big spending, Greed League title contenders Chelsea. The modest Jose Mourinho will be anxious to put that unexpected defeat at Newcastle behind him and it will take a Steve Clarke team showing 100% effort to give us a chance of leaving undefeated But as the saying goes, where there’s life there’s hope and with that one plus nothing’s impossible, we have to cling to these crumbs of comfort however unlikely they seem.

Come on you Baggies.