West Bromwich Albion beat local rivals Birmingham City 1-0 at the Hawthorns last night and many Baggies fans have picked out Matt Clarke as one of the standout performers. 

The centre-back's contributions since joining on loan from Brighton in the summer have been limited by injury issues but he returned to the starting XI against the Blues last night – slotting in on the left of a back three.

Valerien Ismael's side restricted Birmingham to just one shot on target all evening and only 33% possession, with Clarke's performance a factor in their impressive defensive display.

The Seagulls loanee won five of his eight ground duels and seven of his 13 in the air, as well as making three tackles and seven clearances (Sofascore).

It looked for a while as if Albion may be forced to settle for just a point but Karlan Grant's hammered in the only goal of the game from outside the box in the 75th minute, which meant the West Midlands club regained their place at the top of the Championship.

Clarke's return proved a talking point after the game, with many Baggies fans taking to Twitter to highlight the defender as one of the standout performers...