Conor: It’s another big week in scrap for top six
NOT long after a “disappointing” defeat to high-flying Southampton, Albion’s attentions quickly turned towards their “massive” game at Plymouth on Tuesday night.
Head coach Carlos Corberan was unable to do media duties after Friday night’s 2-0 loss to the Saints at The Hawthorns, owing to his early red card.
So left-back Conor Townsend, who took the armband once Jed Wallace was replaced in the second half, was on hand and said the group knew straight away what they needed to do and the best way to bounce back immediately.
It was a good performance by the Baggies but, ultimately, they succumbed to two moments of Premier League quality as Ryan Fraser, on loan from Newcastle, and David Brooks, on loan from Bournemouth, made the difference.
West Brom then made the long trip to Plymouth with only a point separating them from the chasing pack – Coventry, Norwich and Hull. Albion and Hull both have games in hand before the two play each other in Yorkshire on Saturday lunchtime.
So it is the start of another big week in the play-offs battle.
“In that dressing room we felt like we had a good enough team to get all three points against Southampton but the beauty of the Championship is there are so many games,’’ said Townsend.
“In the last sort of 12 days we have had a lot of games back to back and we have got another coming up.
“It is good we have got a chance to rectify it pretty quickly instead of letting it linger on for a little bit. The Championship moves fast; we have got to brush ourselves down and get a result on Tuesday.
“We need to work out what we did well, what we didn’t do so well and try and rectify that.
“We are disappointed but, going forward, we have got a massive game. It is our game in hand, everyone knows that.
“It is going to be a difficult place to go. They are a good team.’’
Analysing Friday night’s game, Townsend was asked if Albion had ultimately been beaten by the better team and he said: “Yes, potentially, I think at the end.
“We felt like going into the game, with news of the takeover, there was a lot of positivity around the place. You could feel it in the club.
“We are disappointed we have not managed to back that up with a win. It was a tough game.
“After we went 1-0 down the reaction was brilliant.
“We turned the game, we were well on top but we didn’t manage to make it count.
“When we are on top in a game like that, we need to take our chances and get ourselves back in the game and the second goal seemed to kill it.
“We had it very similar when we played Leicester at home.
“They take their chances to kill the game off at the right time. It was an important goal for them at the right time and it took the wind out of our sails a little bit.”