AESTHETICS can be over-rated.

Just for once, Albion needed to muck in and finish off a rather difficult job.

It’s exactly what they needed. A far-from-perfect performance, an occasional slog and a bit of luck sprinkled in.

But, importantly, they won. And kept a clean sheet.

Contrast that to the defeats against Manchester United and Chelsea.

Lots of back-slapping but ultimately no points.

Roy Hodgson made some changes to his starting line-up.

Chris Brunt and James Morrison were dropped to the bench following their midweek international exertions, handing opportunities to Jerome Thomas and Graham Dorrans. The Odemwingie-Long strike force was given its first outing.

Off the pitch, the pre-match was sad and poignant – both teams observed a minute’s applause for Albion academy player Blake Melbourne, who died on Saturday following a long illness, before a period of silence to mark the tenth anniversary of 9/11.

It took 127 seconds for Albion to bring a smile to their followers’ faces.

Nicky Shorey’s left-wing cross caught Ritchie De Laet and Marc Tierney napping, though credit must go to Shane Long for also dragging Leon Barnett out of the way.

In the confusion, Manchester United loanee De Laet managed to get his head to the ball but its lack of force allowed Peter Odemwingie to slip past him and stroke the ball beyond stranded Norwich keeper Declan Rudd.

Both sides were ragged defensively early on.

The hosts should have done more when Andrew Surman nipped past Albion’s defensive line and slammed a low shot at keeper Ben Foster.

Chris Martin was the quickest to react but his instinctive effort sailed wide.