Town captain Dara O’Shea hailed the performance of goalkeeper Christian Walton as the Blues claimed a vital point at the Hawthorns during a goalless draw with West Bromwich Albion.

Walton was the busier goalkeeper and made a string of crucial saves in the first half before keeping out Daryl Dike shortly after half-time to keep the game scoreless.

While Town were unable to find a way through an equally resilient Baggies defence, a point apiece proved enough to lift Kieran McKenna’s side back onto the automatic promotion places and secure the home side’s own Championship survival.

O’Shea, who played his part in the Blues’ 16th league shutout of the campaign, was full of praise for the key moments that Walton produced to keep Town in control of their own destiny.

“I think Walts won us that point today,” he said. “It was important we didn’t concede early on and he was there to help us, that’s what you need from your goalkeeper. Credit to Walts, he’s been unbelievable for us this season.

“Moments like that are moments you probably don’t look back on, but as a squad they’re the moments that matter the most. It’s important to have someone there who is willing to make them saves and put their body on the line.

“Goalkeeper must be the toughest position because only one can play. Alex [Palmer] started the season as number one, he picked up an injury and Walts has come in and been unbelievable.

“It’s unlucky for Alex not to have his chance to come back in, but when Walts is playing that well it’s amazing. We’ve got loads of players who have been like that who maybe haven’t started the season playing, but when called upon they’ve come in and done a job.

“It’s really important that we have that in the squad, especially with a big squad. It’s important to have players ready to step in and be ready.”

Jacob Greaves was another key component of the backline, with the defender shifting out to left-back in the absence of Leif Davis to start for an eighth match in a row.

Natural centre-back Greaves has been O’Shea’s regular defensive partner in recent weeks, but started at full-back for the sixth time this season and was one of the Blues’ standout performers in the West Midlands.

O’Shea said: “The versatility that he has and that other lads have too is amazing. To be able to play them positions, to play centre-half one week and then left-back the next week is a credit to him and the hard work he puts in.

“It shows the depth we have in our squad that lads are willing to play in different positions and put shifts in. He was excellent again and Jacob has been excellent all season.

“He was probably unlucky and found himself out the team for a while, but to stay at it in training, work hard and to be called upon and put in good performances is fair play to him.”

West Brom extended their unbeaten run to 10 matches having been in resurgent form under interim head coach James Morrison, who has guided the Baggies to an extraordinary seventh clean sheet in eight matches.

It proved to be another physical encounter against a side playing with two out-and-out strikers, but O’Shea believes Town have gained confidence when dealing with that type of opponent.

“A tough game against a really good side, a side that shouldn’t be here but they’ve obviously found themselves here. It’s a point in the right direction,” the former West Brom defender said.

“It was important we didn’t lose the game today and it’s important we kept a clean sheet. It was a really difficult pitch today, I'm not sure if you could see on the side but it was a really difficult pitch. I’m proud of the boys, we hung on and got a point, and we move onto Tuesday now.

“Each game brings a different threat and we knew today was going to be one of them games. We’re a team that’s always learning, we learn from what we do. Win, lose, or draw, we’re always learning as a group, progressing as a group and trying to take that next step forward.

“We speak about the journey that we’re on and that’s just trying to improve and get better. After every game, there will always be stuff to take away and improve on. It doesn’t matter if we win 5-0 or we lose, there’s always stuff to take away.

“We’ve always had that mentality of pushing on, kicking on and wanting to do better. Today was one of those games that earlier on in the season we didn’t handle as well, and it’s important to see the growth that we’ve had.

“It shows that we’re on the right trajectory and are going the right way.”

Photo: TWTD