West Bromwich Albion 2-3 Middlesbrough: Tony Pulis' return to Hawthorns ends in win

Middlesbrough boss Tony Pulis backed West Bromwich Albion to maintain their promotion challenge despite his side completing a seasonal double over them with victory at The Hawthorns.

Albion came from behind to lead 2-1, before Britt Assombalonga's double gave Pulis victory on his first return to the club who sacked him in November 2017.

"West Brom have probably got more players in their team who are capable of playing Premier League football than any other team in the league," said the Welshman.

"I still expect them to be there or thereabouts come the final weeks of the season.

"They have a great young manager - Darren [Moore] is a fabulous lad. I wish them all the best, but I don't want them to finish above Middlesbrough."

Pulis oversaw a transformation in his side as substitute Assombalonga came on in the closing stages and scored twice in eight minutes to turn the game around.

Earlier, George Saville's neat finish into the bottom corner gave Middlesbrough the lead, while Jay Rodriguez hit back for Albion just before half-time when he reacted to turn in Rekeem Harper's shot.

Dwight Gayle put the hosts ahead after the break with a deflected shot but Assombalonga equalised with a low strike, before capitalising on Chris Brunt's poor clearance to fire home and give them victory.

Of Albion's three deadline-day signings, Jacob Murphy and Jefferson Montero started on the bench, while Stefan Johansen was omitted.

Murphy, Montero, Gayle, Tosin Adarabioyo and Mason Holgate were all part of Albion's squad, meaning Johansen could not be named as teams can only include five loanees on a matchday.

Middlesbrough, by contrast, were unable to add to their squad on transfer deadline day, although they did bring in former Chelsea midfielder Jon Mikel Obi and winger Rajiv van La Parra on loan from Huddersfield during the window.

"That's a disappointment for everybody but we've got a great, resilient group. The thing we've got to do is play with a little more confidence and a little bit more freedom, like we did today, at home," Pulis told BBC Tees.

Pulis went over to applaud the travelling Boro fans at the end of the game and added: "It meant a lot because there's been a real negative feeling around the place in respect of us not bringing players in and I just wanted to say thank you for supporting the lads and that's what we need, irrespective of whether we bring them in or we don't."

Going into the game, he held an enviable record of winning his past five games at The Hawthorns without conceding a goal.

However, after Saville's early strike gave Boro the lead, Rodriguez and Gayle's goals ensured the visitors would have to fight back to win their second successive Championship away match and draw level on points with their opponents.

The result meant West Brom slipped to fourth in the Championship table, four points below the top two, with Middlesbrough below them on goal difference only.

West Bromwich Albion manager Darren Moore told BBC WM 95.6:

"Obviously to be 2-1 up with about 15 minutes to go, we are disappointed to lose the game having got our noses in front but that's football and you have to be switched-on to every situation.

"They changed their system and threw players on and the gamble paid off for them. It feels raw now but it can't stop us in terms of what we have built so far and it's important that we learn from it.

"I won't look at individuals because we score as a team and concede as a team. We have to stay together and make sure we don't let it repeat itself.

"Teams come here, get players behind the ball and frustrate us; we aren't going to be given anything on a plate. It's up to us to find ways to win."