West Brom v Burnley: What Vincent Kompany had to say following last night 1-1 draw away from home

Brandon Thomas-Asante's last-gasp leveller saw the Smethwick End erupt, with hands in Burnley heads on the touchline.

A game that they had, for the large part, been under the cosh, the Clarets had more than enough chances to win the game in the final twenty minutes. But despite a win evading them in the dying embers, Kompany admitted he was happy with a point.

"In the end, I've been in the game long enough to recognise that it’s a good point," he said.

"It's the first time we looked a little more leggy. I'm not saying that we didn't put in the effort because we always do; the lads were putting their bodies across as hard as they could to make it difficult to cross the balls, which gave us a platform to defend the crosses.

"The effort was there, we didn’t take our eye off the ball. I think a lot of it was due to the players being tired for the first time (in his spell). Therefore, we played against a team that on the day could have got the three points, but a point is a good point for us."

The Belgian did however allude to tiredness in his team's performances; notably from Nathan Tella, who was a delight to watch in his hour's contribution, and the midfield who were afforded no space by an equally-impressive Baggies engine room.

He continued: "[Good performances] have been game after game. I have no complaints as it's exactly what I wanted, and that's why the Championship is special. We were just caught a little bit early in terms of integrating with new players, I thought we could have done a few more changes early before the gamed started just to freshen up, but the guys have just got in the building so against a team like West Brom we went for a bit more consistency.

"Look, don't get me wrong, they had big chances but we've had huge chances as well. It was more a thing of the spaces that were there, we just kept giving the ball away which we haven't done all season and you turn into a different game.

Burnley perhaps were unfortunate in their failure to be awarded a penalty with just over 10 minutes left; Darko Churlinov's cross appeared to strike Dara O'Shea's arm, and whilst doubts were raised by Burnley fans at the other end of the field, play went on.

Kompany, however, wasn't dismayed due to the consistency shown so far in the league.

"It seems to be consistent enough at the moment," Kompany said on refereeing decisions.

"What I've seen so far at the moment in the Championship is clear and obvious penalties, they tend to give them, and little deflections where they aren't 100 per cent sure, it is hard to get penalties in the Championship. As much as it is against my team today, I'm rather pro to be honest. If it isn't clear and you're not sure, then no. It has been consistent so far."

Arijanet Muric gave Burnley a huge helping hand in the opener as his searching ball found Tella in acres of space, who was brought down for Jay Rodriguez to tuck home from 12 yards. And after jitters, boos and concerns were rife in the 3-3 draw to Blackpool, Kompany was delighted that his efforts were finally being rewarded.

"Finally. I keep always having a check and balance of the situation as long as you're in the green. I think it's one goal conceded from our build-up and five scored. That's a positive return. It's been a tough week for him. He's been battling with pain all week, and now it gives everyone else a clear way to recover. It doesn't look like a recurrence, but we will reassess tomorrow (Saturday).

Kompany was equally pleased with the effort from the group, and the Belgian admitted there was little his side could do as the game went on with the game entering its 100th minute. It will only add experience, he hopes...

"It was a good lesson for the group. As well as some players have done so far, today was a day to get those fresh legs in. Like I said, either you lose your organisation or you recover fresh legs. There have been no signs of weakening so far, you always think you have that extra game in it. But in the end, it was 1-0 until the 98th minute, just playing 100 minutes at the end it was a little bit too much for us. I always assume that everything is done in good faith, so keeper went down twice, I'm not going to sit here and moan about things that if it's 100 minutes or 150 that you play, stay in the game and punish if we can. We didn't."

Surprisingly, Manuel Benson was not introduced despite his superb performance at home to Millwall at the weekend, and the Belgian winger could consider himself unlucky not to have taken part in the Midlands. But with Darko Churlinov somewhat impressing despite two glorious opportunities, Kompany inclined that it perhaps wasn't the game for Benson to take the initiative.

"I think it's a sign of things to come," he added. It's just we were never dominant, and these players actually are even better when the team is on top of it and we weren't. It was good for Darko physically and to be able to run in behind, get chances, you can see in tight spaces he is able to get a shot or pass off. We have exciting players and we will need them. But from my side because I'm always trying to make sure that players get on the pitch with some idea of what the team's trying to do, the beginning is always difficult."

Ian Maatsen struggled against Jed Wallace, who was severely caught lacking at left-back with most of Albion's chances forming down the right. The Dutchman returned after suspension at home to Blackpool, and didn't contribute as well as he could've done. However, the boss knew the best course of action was to bring him off, which gave the side more balance.

He said of the Chelsea loanee: “It's nothing major. There was a couple of players out there that had a tough time and Ian was one of them, and sometimes it doesn't need to be more than that. I thought the winger had the better of one of our players, that needed solving. On the other side as well, we weren’t really threatening from Vitinho's position, and that’s why we killed two birds with one stone. For this game, it looked like he brought some stability back. But Ian has been a standout performer for us but the message is to get yourself dusted and back playing again."

It was the first time Kompany had faced the press since the window slammed shut the night before; with moves for Jordan Beyer and Halil Dervisoglu being completed with hours to spare, the Clarets could've had a third in Swansea star Michael Obafemi. Of course, a deal wasn't completed and he remains at the Liberty Stadium; but the main thing for the gaffer was turning down bids for Charlie Taylor and Josh Brownhill, who have been indispensable this campaign.

"He [Obafemi] is a Swansea player, we were close to a few players during the transfer window," the Belgian concluded.

"The thing for me now is, we have the group we have and we are looking forward to working with those for the full season. It is important to get a full season and then when the next transfer window comes in, we still have a lot of loan players, so the next window will be important again; and when the next one comes we have got 12 months to get information from this league and understand it and then add players to make our team stronger again next season. But for now I am happy to work with the group of guys I have, they give me everything and that is the basic.

“I knew early doors that there were a few big sales of players I would like to keep but I knew straight away for the health of the club that we had to do it. We don’t want to be the next Sunderland, if you know what I mean. We had to sell [Nathan] Collins, [Nick] Pope, [Dwight] McNeil, [Maxwel] Cornet...they were big players and we lost big players on a free. For me now, after that we didn’t have to sell those players other players which was a big thing for me, so we were in a real strong position for when any interest came in for our standout performers [Brownhill and Charlie Taylor].

"I'm happy that the window's closed, for a start! I'm excited to see those new players improve. There are a lot of faces that I’m excited to see wear a Burnley shirt and see how they can make us a better team. We have a good mix of experience, talent and potential for now."