West Brom have shown 'small signs of progress' says Steve Bruce
Manager Steve Bruce believes Albion have shown small signs of progress in their last two outings against Hull and Huddersfield.
The Baggies ended a dismal run of seven games without a win by beating Hull on March 5.
They then produced a thrilling comeback to secure a draw against Carlos Corberan's high-flying Terriers on Friday.
During that game, Bruce's men started well and were the more dangerous of the two teams before goalkeeper Sam Johnstone gifted Huddersfield the lead midway through the first-half.
That goal visibly deflated the players and also The Hawthorns crowd who are still struggling to understand their team effectively throwing away their promotion hopes by winning just one of 13 games from December through to February.
And Bruce said the last two results have been important – with everyone still scarred from that dreadful run.
"They are small steps that we are taking," the 61-year-old said.
"It’s been difficult. You only have to sample it when the goal went in. The atmosphere in the stadium changed, the players changed.
"That’s been because the club has been on an awful run for three, four months.
"But at least the players showed something. They showed a little bit of spirit and togetherness to bring it back and get a draw."
Bruce has now won one, drawn one and lost four of his games in charge of Albion since replacing the sacked Valerien Ismael as boss.
And he says his main job is to reconnect the club with the fans.
"I have really enjoyed the four/five weeks I've been here even though we haven’t had the results we’ve liked," the former Newcastle boss continued.
"It’s a really good club with really good people and the supporters have made me very welcome.
"My aim is to unite the club with the supporters. I think that’s vitally important.
"We need a team that they enjoy watching and can associate with. And hopefully, given time, that is what we'll give them."
Meanwhile, Bruce revealed striker Daryl Dike came through his first full training session since suffering a hamstring injury without any problems.
The American was signed from Orlando in a £7million deal on January 1. But he pulled up on his Hawthorns debut just a few weeks later.
Dike has been working on the grass for the past few weeks. But he joined in full training with his team mates last Thursday.
And Bruce revealed he came through it fine.
"He’s only trained once with us, so it’s a big important week for him," Bruce said.
"Will he be involved against Bristol City next weekend? Possibly. But I think it will be after the international break when he’ll be in and around it."
