Tony Pulis could not begrudge his West Bromwich Albion players in the wake of their 1-0 loss at Chelsea.

An error from Gareth McAuley in the 76th minute allowed Diego Costa to fire home his 12th goal of the season to give Antonio Conte's Blues a narrow victory.

It was a hard-fought affair at Stamford Bridge which Pulis admits was a fairly strong performance from his Baggies, who sit eighth on the table.

"The goal's disappointing because Gareth should have dealt with it," said Pulis.

"I'm disappointed for them, because they've put so much into the game to then get beaten by that one mistake.

"I have no qualms about how hard they worked. Hopefully that honesty will set us up to achieve something in the rest of the season."