Nev Foulger's view: Plenty of plus points as Leicester City lose to classy West Brom

In the end, Joe "Boo" Mattock had the last laugh at the Walkers Stadium on Saturday.

Cast as the Pantomime villain, Mattock was able to exit centre-stage, cheered up by the considerable consolation of being on the winning side.

Hopefully, however, the hostile reception he received from Leicester City's fans will have taught the young and talented defender a valuable lesson in life.

Mattock must have heard more boos during West Bromwich Albion's 2-1 win against City, than a certain American golfer called Weekly, whose first name is Boo.

That was all because of the injudicious comments Mattock made after leaving City to join West Brom.

The Blue Army have not forgiven him for that, and the boos and taunts cascaded down whenever Mattock went near the ball.

It had to be said that was not too often. Mattock was very much on the periphery of a match that, once again, showcased Albion's right to be regarded as one of the automatic promotion favourites. They looked every inch a quality side – certainly the best we have seen at the Walkers this season.

So Mattock was almost unnoticed, except for the bright blue boots that clashed garishly with his red shirt and socks. Someone suggested that he was perhaps being booed for his dress sense. Apart from that, Mattock had a quiet game at left-back, and we saw very few of the surging attacking runs that characterised his performances at City.

With all the pace and creativity they posses in other areas of the pitch, Albion probably do not need Mattock to drive forward as much as he did for the Foxes.

Albion manager Roberto Di Matteo said he is trying to add some steel to Albion's defending, and the hard work appears to be paying off. While their eye-catching attacking flair was there for all to see on Saturday, it took some resolute defending to keep City at bay in the later stages of the match.

Although disappointing, the defeat has not harmed City's own prospects of a top-six finish. If Albion are the best side in the Championship – and I think they are – City have every right to believe they are capable of at least reaching the play-offs. Until Albion took control with two goals in four minutes towards the end of the first half, there was little to choose between the sides.

What will concern City boss Nigel Pearson, however, are the injuries to midfielders Matt Oakley and Andy King..

Even though City have a strong squad this season, they are short on cover for central midfield – one of the reasons for the interest shown in Edgar Davids.

But City fans will be comforted by Pearson being an expert at making full use of loan signings when it is necessary. It was around this time last year that he swooped to bring in Mark Davies from Wolves. And what an impact he made in his short time at the club.

I would not rule out something similar again.