West Bromwich Albion enjoyed a 1-0 win over Sheffield United in the first round of the EFL Cup on Thursday night and Taylor Gardner-Hickman was one of many players who impressed.

The 20-year-old, who was making his first appearance of the season, started at right-back ahead of Darnell Furlong and was outstanding at the Hawthorns.

No West Brom player made more tackles, interceptions, created more chances or had more dribbles than Gardner-Hickman over the 90 minutes, so he deserves the praise from journalists.

Joe Chapman of Birmingham Live gave the right-back a player rating of 7/10 and said he put in a ‘positive’ performance. Jonny Drury of the Express and Star gave Gardner-Hickman a player rating of 8/10 and said he ‘looked very good’ going forward.

Against United, the 20-year-old played for 90 minutes, had 92 touches, completed 86.2% of his 58 passes, created four chances, whipped in five crosses with 20% finding a teammate, made four tackles, had four interceptions, made two clearances and had four successful dribbles.

West Brom’s next game is a trip to face Blackburn Rovers in the Championship on Sunday afternoon. Furlong is likely to return to right-back for the fixture, though Gardner-Hickman will hope his performance gave Steve Bruce food for thought.

In other news, Alex Mowatt has uncertain West Brom future