Albion v Sunderland

It’s a mark of Albion’s growing confidence, maturity and, overall, quality that without ever really getting close to our best form, and coming out of the shadow of consecutive defeats, this win over Sunderland was every bit as routine for us as Manchester United’s was for them when they were at The Hawthorns before Christmas.

That was the measure of the gulf in class between ourselves and the toiling Black Cats, making the game a relatively straightforward exercise once Chris Brunt had followed up Darren Fletcher’s opener to make it 2-0 after 36 minutes.

There is a gathering storm here at the Albion and, particularly, at The Hawthorns. We are getting the opportunity to watch a team grow and develop into something which, in modern terms, is quite special. It’s still relatively early days, there is still much to be done and it could all be blown off course by events, these are all essential caveats to remember, but at the same time, there is undeniable promise here.

It’s been an anomaly for quite a while that many of Albion’s best performances have come on the road, frustrating given that the bulk of the Throstletariat mostly see us on home turf. But this season promises something different.

This was win number six here this term and already that puts us ahead of three of our 10 previous seasons in the Premier League, level with three more and within striking distance of our record haul of nine from 2012/13. The goals are going in too, at all but two a game, a ratio we’ve never approached since getting back to the top flight for the first time in 2002. In short, The Hawthorns is a pretty good place to be on match days at present.