West Bromwich 5-0 Watford match report: The Daily Mirror verdict

Simon Cox grabbed his first League goal for West Brom and admitted he is ready to show boss Roberto di Matteo: This is It.

Cox was among the thousands who missed out on Michael Jackson’s planned O2 Arena shows following the singer’s death in June. The Baggies striker splashed out around £500 on tickets to try and make sure football commitments did not get in the way of seeing him - only for the gigs to be tragically cancelled.

But after getting back to doing what he does best against Watford - scoring goals - Cox now Wants to be Starting Something at The Hawthorns.

The former Swindon marksman hit the target 32 times last season before his £1.5m summer move to Albion which co-incided with the arrival of di Matteo who rubber-stamped the deal.

But the Baggies manager decided to give Cox a gradual introduction to life in the Championship after his move from League One.

And now both manager and player hope his long-range strike will be the first of many: “I’ve had to bide my time and I’ve been happy to do so because coming here was a big step up for me,“ said Cox.

“But I’ve been desperate to get out there with a point to prove  and scoring a goal made the day even better.

“I don’t set myself targets but I know I’m there to score goals. If I score 10 this season, I’ll be pleased with that because this is a big learning experience for me at this level. If I get 15, that’s even better because it will mean I am getting a regular game.

“The only point I wanted to prove to the manager was that I was ready to repay the faith he showed in bringing me here. If I’ve made that point, I’m happy with that.

“That’s my job, I’ve just been trying to score as often as possible in training so that I’d be ready when I got the call. When you get your chance you have to draw on that and show what you can do - and I think I did that. “

Cox’s goal was No.5 on a day when Albion destroyed Malky Mackay’s Hornets with a overwhelming team performance.

And Cox clicked up front with Luke Moore who also scored as Albion’s strikers put a frustrating spell behind them following their last 5-0 super show against Middlesbrough.

Cox said: “My confidence is pretty high,  but I can’t relax and think I’ve cracked it.

“There’s competition for places up front when Roman Bednar is fully fit, but I don’t have a problem with that, I reckon I can adapt to playing with anybody and I’m sure Luke feels the same. I certainly don’t feel under pressure from that situation. I'm just ambitious to make the best of the chance I've been given,“ added Cox who could have been celebrating by seeing Jacko play live in London.

“I bought a stack of tickets for different nights to make sure I could get to see him. About 20 I think,“ he said.

“I paid about £25 a ticket so you can do the arithmetic. The idea was to sell the ones I didn’t use to mates or give them to family. As it turned out, I got my money back anyway. It’s not that I’m a huge fan. It’s just that it was going to be his last appearances so I just wanted to be able to say I saw one of the biggest music stars of all-time, one of the legends.”

Cox stood out but there were plenty of candidates for man-of-the-match. Albion defenders Jonas Olsson and Gianni Zuiverloon also scored while Graham Dorrans converted a penalty and would have impressed watching scouts from Villa, Sunderland, Stoke, Everton and Birmingham.

Di Matteo looked like he was auditioning for a role in Grumpy Old Men afterwards with a low-key verdict on the win following recent criticism about Albion’s lack of firepower.

But stunned Watford boss Malky Mackay praised his players for refusing to throw in the towel even when the game was lost - although he admitted key chances to get back into the game went begging.

“The positive was that we kept going right to the end, the courage of the guys to do that when we were five goals down showed their mettle,” he said.

“They’ve done great so far, all I ask now is that they be competitive and that the football comes out, if I get that then I will be happy. But it was disappointing, we had to have the belief we could win.”

West Brom: Carson 6, Mattock 7, Olsson 7, Meite 6, Zuiverloon 7, Teixeira 7, Jara 7, Dorrans 8, Thomas 6 (Brunt 64, 6), Moore 7, Cox 7.

Watford: Loach 6, Hodson 6, Mariappa 6, Cathcart 5, Doyley 6, Cleverley 6, Eustace 6 (Severin 85), Lansbury 6, Harley 6, Cowie 6 (Helguson 52, 6), Graham 6 (Ellington 64, 5).