West Bromwich Albion manager Slaven Bilic has stated that he has no regrets about the team he decided to put out against Newcastle United on Tuesday night.

The Baggies made nine changes to the team that saw defeat against Wigan Athletic last time out in the Championship, with a number of experienced players coming into the starting XI such as Chris Brunt and Gareth Barry.

West Brom suffered a loss in the FA Cup tie, and they weren't up to their usual standards as Newcastle raced into a 3-0 lead with just under 45 minutes remaining of the game. Bilic's side managed to pull two goals back late on, but the Baggies were outclassed at The Hawthorns.

Bilic has expressed that the league is the priority for the club, and that the players who came in deserved the chance to impress.

Speaking to Birmingham Live, Bilic said: "No, no. I told you yesterday, the reasons why I decided to go with this team. Two reasons - one, the league is the priority. Maybe we were greedy, we wanted both, which is not wrong.

"Some of the players needed a rest, needed a break, considering the league and the situation we’re in. The second reason is that I have a very strong belief in the players who played tonight. They deserved a game, and the chance."

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The Verdict

Bilic has handled the different competitions very well so far this season, and he did earn a much-deserved victory against Premier League side West Ham United.

He earned that win with a heavily changed team, and Bilic obviously thought that they could do the same against Newcastle but the top division quality shone through.

The Baggies will now hope that the rest given to the majority of first XI players will help propel them to promotion in the final fixtures of the campaign.

It's set to be an intriguing end to the season in the promotion race and at this current moment in time Bilic's side are sitting top of the table and looking like favourites to win the title.