WEST Brom boss Carlos Corberan felt a 0-0 draw was a fair reflection of Southampton's first leg at the Hawthorns.

Flynn Downes and Ross Stewart saw efforts saved by Alex Palmer, while Grady Diangana was twice denied by Alex McCarthy.

The draw sets up Friday night's second leg as a winner-takes-all affair, with both sides holding an equal chance of reaching Wembley.

Speaking on Sunday, Baggies boss Corberan insisted he was pleased with his side's performance.

He said: "It was a very equal, very balanced, very tough game as you can expect when you are fighting between four teams to reach the Premier League - the best league in the world.

"You have to expect tough and difficult challenges. The key is that you need to enjoy the difficulty of the challenge.

"In general both teams probably created similar types of chances. My feeling is that in the first 20 minutes, we were better than them.

"During the first 15-20 minutes of the second half, they were better than us. After that, both teams adapted better defensively and offensively to the teams.

Daily Echo: West Brom manager Carlos CorberanWest Brom manager Carlos Corberan (Image: PA)

"Any result that any of the teams achieved on Sunday would have had an impact on the second leg, but would not have been decisive for the next round.

"Normally I have 15 minutes to prepare the second half, now I have four days. Let's use them in the best way to prepare as best we can."

Ahead of the game, Corberan called on the Baggies home fans to create an intimidating atmosphere inside the Hawthorns.

He was not left disappointed: "I like how the team competed. I was enjoying the atmosphere that our fans created. All these things together have helped to not lose the game.

"This was the first time that we have not lost in 90 minutes against Southampton so we have taken a positive step.

"Set pieces are something we need to analyse and consider because we had a lot of opportunities that we could have done better from.

"Maybe the 0-0 scoreline doesn't reflect the game that we have played, probably 1-1 or 2-2 (would be better).

"The challenge that we are going to play on Friday is probably going to be the strongest one we have faced this season."

Both Martin and Downes made comments about how the scorching Midlands sun affected Southampton's energy levels.

Coreberan had no such issues: "I am Spanish so I was enjoying it a lot," he joked.

"I think the referee made a good decision to add a water break to the game. Both teams are affected by the same circumstances.