Chris Baird believes Fulham were on course to beat West Brom this afternoon before Peter Odemwingie’s red card.

The Northern Ireland international, who turned in a superb display in central midfield, felt the Nigerian forward’s dismissal for kicking out at Sascha Riether left the Baggies facing an uphill task but Baird felt Fulham were in control before the red card.

The sending-off was obviously a help, but sometimes these things don’t always go your way. But we got the third goal and that killed them off.

Baird, who was restored to central midfield in the absence of Mahamadou Diarra, raved about the impact that new signing Dimitar Berbatov has made at Motspur Park. The Bulgarian forward scored twice in the first half and Baird had the perfect view of the former Manchester United striker’s first goal for Fulham.

You obviously hear Dimi’s name and you think world class. I was right behind his first goal, and the way he got it out from his feet and curled it in was perfect. Let’s hope there’s more of the same. He was down the pecking order at Manchester United and wanted to come to a club where he can get a few games – and that’s all the better for us.