Credit: Imago

Richie Mills

Mon 13 April 2026 20:00, UK

West Bromwich Albion Women boss Siobhan Hodgetts-Still didn’t hold back against her side following a 2-0 defeat to lowly Derby County.

After a thrilling 3-2 win over Liverpool Feds on 5 April, hopes were of another win at The Hawthorns for the visit of Derby on Sunday.

West Brom were two places and 12 points better off heading into the game with eighth-placed Derby but by the time the final whistle blew, the visitors were the ones belying their league position.

The Baggies struggled to create any clear-cut chances and were punished with second half goals from Yasmin Mason and Rebecca May as Derby preserved their status in the FA Women’s National League Northern Premier Division.

Hodgetts-Still bemoaned West Brom’s display against Derby in what was their penultimate league game of the season.

West Brom back to the drawing board

Since losing to Stoke City on 1 March, West Brom have beaten Halifax, Hull City, Sporting Khalsa, in a 6-0 thumping, and Liverpool Feds.

After winning four of their last five league games, confidence was high, but that evaporated against a determined Rams team, who seemed to want it more than the Baggies.

While promotion was out of the question, with Burnley and Wolves a whopping 19 and 18 points, respectively, clear of third-placed Rugby Borough, West Brom had a shot at finishing fourth this season.

But they never looked like beating Derby, and are now behind Middlesbrough on goal difference and three points adrift of Stoke in fourth with one game to go.

After the match, Hodgetts-Still didn’t mince her words about the defeat.

“I don’t think we were good enough today,” she told West Brom’s website. “I thought we were miles off it at times; our quality and decision-making were poor at times. Derby wanted it more, and they deserved the win. They were hard to beat; they defended their box well, too.

“I thought we could’ve made better decisions and done more to hurt them in the final third. They’ve scored a deflection and scored a worldy from our mistake as well, but ultimately, they wanted to stay up more than we wanted to finish fourth in the league.

“Credit to Derby, and they were the better side out there. We had a great turnout today, and we’re thankful for that, but we’re equally disappointed not to put on a performance for them. We’ll go away, assess this one, and move on quite quickly.”

West Brom still targeting fourth

West Brom round off their season away at Middlesbrough on 26 April at The Map Group UK Stadium in a battle between fifth and sixth in the league.

While it is still mathematically possible for West Brom to finish fourth, Stoke are three points ahead and have a plus-10 goal difference.

They do have to go to league leaders Burnley, who are averaging nearly three goals a game.

But West Brom will have to thump Middlesbrough and hope Burnley do the same against Stoke to finish in the top four. Despite that, midfielder Seren Watkins is staying positive.

She added, “I think it’s disappointing, we wanted to win today, not just for the fans who came down, but also because we want to finish as high as possible in the table.

“We have eyes on fourth place, which is still possible, but today would’ve been a massive three points for us to have got us there. We’re really disappointed to have lost the game.”