WEST Bromwich Albion manager Steve Clarke hailed the character of the Newport County AFC players after his side dumped the Exiles out of the Capital One Cup.

The Premier League side raced into a 3-0 lead thanks to Saido Berahino’s 37-minute hat-trick on Tuesday night but the Baggies boss was impressed by County’s battling second half display at the Hawthorns.

“I said to my players before the game ‘for Newport this probably is their cup final’ so we had to be on our game,” said Clarke.

“They went to Brighton and won and I wasn’t so surprised that they played the way they did against us because they did that to Brighton as well.

“All the pressure was on us and not them and they played good football.

“They could have been disappointed to go in 3-0 down at half-time because I think that slightly flattered us but we deserved to be in front,” he added.

“I liked their character second half because they could have rolled over and concede five or six but they made us work.

“They got a lot of balls into the box and my centre backs had to head a lot of balls away.

“They didn’t really create that much but they played well. I was impressed by them. They are a good team.”