The damning stat that could be the difference between relegation and survival for West Brom
West Brom delivered a fighting showing in their 1-1 draw with Southampton, but time is fast running out after going 13 Championship games without a win.
James Morrison‘s side finally looked on course for all three points at The Hawthorns on Wednesday night, only to be pegged back at the death in brutal fashion.
Jayson Molumby had put the Baggies in front on the stroke of half-time after sweeping home following a corner, before the visitors levelled late on through Cyle Larin.
Slowly but surely, Albion look to be turning a corner in their bid to avoid dropping into League One, but there is clearly still plenty of work to do, especially defensively.
West Brom keep dropping points at the death
Judging from a worrying statistic shared on social media in the aftermath of the Southampton stalemate, West Brom‘s relegation fight will go right down to the wire.
X account @albion_gaming pointed out that the Baggies have thrown away a lead five times in the 90th minute, leading to them surrendering seven cheap points.
Correcting just those five setbacks alone would have pushed the Midlands side up to 19th in the Championship and possibly created a healthy six-point cushion over the bottom three.
A glance over Albion’s past results this season reveals these capitulations have been evenly spread out, pointing to an issue all three managers to date haven’t got a handle on.
The 1-1 draw with Leicester City on September 26 saw West Brom snatch a draw from the jaws of victory, Nat Phillips scoring the equaliser in the 93rd minute.
On November 4, they lost 1-0 at Charlton after Sonny Carey’s 95th-minute winner, while in January, they were again condemned to a last-gasp 2-1 reverse against Leicester.
| Fixture | Result | Scorer and time |
| Leicester City (H) | 1-1 | Phillips (90+3) |
| Charlton (A) | 1-0 | Carey (90+5) |
| Leicester City (A) | 2-1 | Fatawu (90+4) |
| Middlesbrough (H) | 2-3 | Burgzorg (90) |
| Southampton (A) | 1-1 | Larin (90+1) |
Delano Burgzorg then pounced after 90 minutes as Middlesbrough won 3-2 at The Hawthorns, before the draw to Southampton last time out extended this concerning trend.
How does James Morrison fix the issue?
It’s a little simplistic, but West Brom must persist with what’s working at the moment.
They have enjoyed success after switching to 4-4-2, with lapses in concentration proving their undoing on too many occasions, rather than the system or tactics.
Timing a clearance or heading away a cross is often the difference between victory and defeat in the Championship, and Albion must come out on top in more of these moments.
Morrison has instilled a solid foundation and confidence is growing, but soon, this belief must generate results. Staying switched on until the final whistle would help with that.
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