A Matheus Pereira brace and Semi Ajayi’s goals helped Sam Allardyce record his first win as West Brom’s coach in the 3-2 derby win over Wolves.

The Black Cats have been winless under Allardyce (aka Big Sam) since he took over from Slaven Bilic on 16 December 2020, lying 19th on the table.

The win today has however moved them onto 11 points, three adrift of safety, despite remaining on 19th position on the log.

Speaking after the game, Big Sam said: “In the vast majority of that performance the plan, and the way the lads carried out the tactics, was excellent. It’s the best I’ve seen us in possession since I’ve been here.

“Apart from slipping up on a set-piece which put us on the back foot, I’d have to say the lads were excellent. You could have felt the heads go down when we were behind, but they came bouncing back. We created other chances after going ahead which would have made it even better and then defended well at the end.

“It’s even better for the club and the fans because we’ve beat our rivals in the black country derby. We look forward to gaining a bit of confidence now. I’m asking the players to improve their overall fitness and technique by one per cent – add that all up and it’s a big improvement. I’m asking for everyone to do that little bit more and be more consistent.”