'Cherish today' - West Brom boss on Tony Mowbray meeting and mind games hint

Albion’s James Morrison revealed he will “cherish” the day he got one over former boss and mentor Tony Mowbray as the pair locked horns in a thriller.

Mowbray brought the Baggies head coach to The Hawthorns in 2007, where Morrison has remained ever since. The latter was on Mowbray’s staff when the former title-winning boss had a shortlived second spell at the helm 18 months ago.

Saturday afternoon’s clash in the Black Country saw the pair face off in management for the first time and a see-saw clash looked to be heading the way of Mowbray’s visitors, who powered into an early 2-0 lead.

But Morrison’s men showed brilliant powers of recovery after the break and struck a late equaliser and 89th-minute winner through Isaac Price’s penalty and Felix Horn Myhre respectively.

"It felt ... it was obviously nice to see him,” Morrison told the Express & Star. “That warmth that I talked about with him.

"I'm sure he's not the happiest at the moment, but I think I will cherish that, going up against a former manager.

"It's a good trait to have - I went up against a manager who had a good part in my career.”

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The pair embraced as usual in the dugouts ahead of kick-off and Mowbray kept his emotions in check as he watched his side throw away a lead.

Morrison leapt for joy as substitute Horn Myhre notched his first Championship goal with a minute left of normal time to separate the sides.

Albion’s boss smiled as he admitted his former boss Mowbray - who he still refers to as ‘the gaffer’ - tried to get into his head ahead of kick-off.

"Yes (business as usual) - before the game we obviously met with the referees, he was trying a bit of reverse psychology!” Morrison said.

Asked if the pair will share a drink afterwards, the home boss added: "He doesn't drink, does he? (Might share) a chocolate bar, maybe."

A win lifted the Baggies to fifth, within three points of top spot, as Blackburn remained 10th. The picture looked different, however, after Andri Gudjohnsen’s early double for Rovers.

Mowbray was left unhappy with the decision from referee Adam Herczeg to award the hosts a penalty with less than 20 minutes remaining with Blackburn still 2-1 ahead.

It was decided defender Sean McLoughlin had caught compatriot Jayson Molumby after the Baggies man had charged into the box. The official immediately pointed to the spot - and Price converted and impudent ‘Panenka’-style penalty.

Mowbray said: “I think West Brom are a good team as their league position shows.

“It gave them something to chase, 2-0 early on, and they did it very well.

“I don’t want to be the manager who moans about officials, but I think the penalty is a really, really poor decision. I think it should’ve been a free-kick to us for a double-handed push on the edge of the box.

“Sean is adamant he never touched the guy, no contact whatsoever. It doesn’t matter, here we are talking about a game we lost 3-2. It’s disappointing, we worked so hard this week. We got nothing from the game and I think we deserved something.”