West Brom head coach Carlos Corberan accepted his side had to suffer as they held on to beat Swansea 3-2 at The Hawthorns.
The Baggies appeared to be cruising towards a first three points of the new Sky Bet Championship season after Semi Ajayi, a Carl Rushworth own goal and a John Swift penalty put them 3-0 up just after the hour.
However, Swansea fought back with late goals from Harry Darling and Nathan Wood after Jerry Yates hit the bar gave the Baggies a mighty scare.
“We won a game by suffering without managing it the way we needed to do,” Corberan said.
“The best thing of course was the result and the worst thing was that we suffered more than we had to suffer during one part of the game.
“Two things happened – firstly they started to play 4-3-1-2 and had quality players in the middle of the pitch, then they switched to 5-3-2.
“Secondly, when they changed, they didn’t create chances from open play, but they started to create set-pieces and actions from those.
“We were not on it from those set-pieces and conceded two goals and a lot of chances that put the result at a lot of risk.”
Corberan believes he needs to persevere with playing three central defenders because he is convinced the team needs the extra protection.
“I need to make the team grow from the solidity in defence,” he said.
“But we have conceded in every game we have played so far – four goals – and for me it’s important to stop this.
“It’s important for us to have one defender more (three at the back) because it can help you recover the solidity.”
West Brom’s early dominance was rewarded with an 18th-minute lead.
A long throw-in by Darnell Furlong was flicked on and Conor Townsend nodded it back across the box for Ajayi to volley home from six yards.
Another set-piece gave Albion their second goal in the 50th minute.
Swift’s corner was met by a flick by Furlong and after it struck a defender, Rushworth made a hash of twice trying to catch the ball before it squirmed through his grasp and over the line.
West Brom’s third goal came after Darling fouled Townsend for a clear penalty and Swift calmly beat Rushworth from the spot.
Swansea started an unlikely recovery when Darling nodded in Charlie Patino’s corner with 15 minutes left and Wood’s towering header set up a tense finish for the hosts.
Swansea head coach Michael Duff admitted his side had just left it too late.
“It was frustrating because we waited until we were 3-0 down before we started playing with any purpose,” he said.
“We were too slow and too passive in the first half and never played with any intensity – balls coming into our box, they headed them, we didn’t.
“We went 3-0 down and it kicked us into life. We started heading those balls because we were angry and we started moving the ball quicker and with intensity and purpose, then we looked like a good team.”
