West Brom moved to within four points of the top two after they beat Birmingham 3-2 at The Hawthorns last night in an entertaining West Midlands derby.

The Baggies started poorly and deservedly trailed after Gary Gardner rewarded the visitors early pressure with a goal from a set-play.

Despite equalising through Dwight Gayle, they once again conceded from a corner before a Jay Rodriguez penalty and a fine strike from Jake Livermore sealed the points.

It made it three wins from three under James Shan since he stepped up following Darren Moore's sacking and he looks nailed on to keep the job until the summer.

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That will be a decision the fans can surely get behind now and here we look at THREE things we learnt following the important win last night that keeps alive any faint hopes of automatic promotion...

James Shan can be decisive

There's no getting away from the fact it was a pretty abysmal first-half from Albion. They had a lot of the ball but didn't test Lee Camp at all and it's clear things weren't working.

However, Shan recognised that and made a change at the break that gave the hosts the initiative with Hal Robson-Kanu replacing James Morrison.

He gave them a different option in the final third and it was a superb second-half display from Albion - with Shan deserving the credit for that.

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Chris Brunt has a role to play

The experienced midfielder hasn't been the most popular man around The Hawthorns this season and he struggled to feature under Darren Moore towards the end of his reign.

But, Shan has brought him back into the team and the Northern Irishman is repaying him in style.

His delivery last night was outstanding and he was key to the turnaround in the second period.

The players are behind the caretaker boss

Giving Shan the job would be a risky move, even though he has won three from three.

Yet, it's clear that the players respect the 40-year-old and the way they battled back to win that game proves they have belief in his methods.

They showed a lot of fight and togetherness which has to please the caretaker boss.