Bruno hopes it's goodbye, not "see you later", to tough times

Fernando Llorente was leaving the building.

That’s the 24-times capped Spanish international centre-forward, formerly of Juventus, who these days has to wait for limited time off the bench for Tottenham.

Such are the attacking riches in the Spurs squad.

Bruno and his colleagues took a point off them and kept them pretty quiet in the final third.

And that was a source of huge satisfaction to the skipper restored to the back line to add some organisation and poise.

Bruno knows a few of the Tottenham party, including fellow Espanyol old boy Mauricio Pochettino.

He certainly knows the attacking threat they pose.

The Albion skipper, enjoying a first home league start in four months, gave some insight into the challenge he and his colleagues faced.

He said: “I think what we did well was our compactness – how tight we were.

“It is really difficult to play against Tottenham because of the way they play and the movement they have got.

“They create overloads for some players. For example, for me, as a full-back, it is really difficult.

“They have runners between Shane (Duffy, the right-sided centre-back) and me which means I have to duck in.

“That means they have an easy pass to the winger.

“It is really difficult to play against them. We did it well and the most important thing is winning battles. I thought every 50-50, we were there.

“After that, what you need is to take advantage of your chances.

“You are always going to have one or two chances in a game.

“If you score, that is the massive difference between getting something and not getting anything.”

At one stage Anthony Knockaert raced back 40 yards to make a tackle. It met with roars of approval from the stands.

Bruno said: “That is our way to play. The only way we can achieve our aim to stay up is everyone giving 100%. That means wingers running a lot, that means midfielders tackling and being good on the ball.

“That means centre-backs being really strong with the strikers.

“It means full-backs one-against-one all the time with the wingers.

“That’s football and, if you want to stay up in the elite, you need to be good at everything. What we need now is to keep performing well.”

Bruno stayed on his feet as long as he could as Hueng-Min Son ran at him, then tried to show him wide.

But Spurs had plenty of good movement. A glance up from the keyboard as print deadlines loomed in the second half showed Bruno again having to defend against a fleet-footed attacker.

This time, our live report at theargus.co.uk noted, Son cut inside and shot wide of the near post.

But it wasn’t Son, it was Lucas Moura. What was he doing there?

Apologies to online readers – but it underlined the movement within the Tottenham side.

Albion midfielder Beram Kayal said: “The system they played, they drop forwards into the middle and, with Lucas as well coming from the right wing to be between the lines, it was hard work but we did it properly.

“The manager and the staff organised us and showed us the clips about this point and we did it perfectly.

“The shape we kept, the commitment and power we put into winning something from this game, I thought the fans were happy as well with this performance.”

Bruno has had to bide his time but has been keen to have input from outside the XI.

Playing a part in the final stages of the landmark win over Arsenal meant an awful lot to him.

His return to the XI came versus the team against whom he was first left on the bench.

“It will give us confidence to play against other big teams,” he said of the 1-1 draw.

"I think we showed the right way to play against them. 

“I’ve been trying so hard to be ready. I’ve been trying to help the team from outside. It was a big game and I am really happy.”

Llorente got about 20 minutes, as it turned out.

He sent a picture to former Albion midfielder David Lopez before the game, showing the view the players get as they leave the tunnel and go out on to the pitch at the Amex.

Llorente and David were good mates when playing together for a very good Athletic Bilbao side who reached the Europa League Cup final.

He went on to play briefly in the Champions League final with Juve.

That is the company Albion now keep and, it appears, will continue to keep next season.

Bruno has already signed up for 2018-19 but is aware of how hard Albion worked to be where they are now.

He said: “It is not just about this season. We have been fighting so long to achieve what we are doing.

“I think to stay up would be massive for the players, because we are training so hard to get it, but also for the club, for the fans, for the city.

“I think it’s a massive thing."