James Morrison seeks response as West Brom head to Sheffield United

The Baggies head to Bramall Lane on Saturday aiming to snap an 11-match winless run and claim their first Championship win of 2026.

Failing that, a positive performance would at least breathe some hope into their survival battle.

Morrison did not hold back when assessing their performance in last weekend’s 2-1 defeat at Oxford, claiming he felt “let down” by his players.

No-one present at the Kassam Stadium would argue with the assessment, yet delivering the rebuke so publicly was also a risk for Morrison, who was this week confirmed as the club’s boss for the rest of the season.

The club’s short-term future rests on his shoulders and those of players who must prove their commitment to an increasingly vexed fanbase.

In practical terms, the Baggies also need to become better at scoring goals and keeping them out.

Finding the net has been an issue for Albion all season, with their attack ranked as the joint-fourth poorest in the second tier. 

Top scorer Aune Heggebo has eight goals in the league and nine in all competitions but the last of those came 14 matches ago on December 12. 

Isaac Price has six goals but just one since October. The loss of Mikey Johnston, likely for the rest of the season, with a fractured ankle does not help matters.

"Maybe more goals. It's a simple game, isn't it?" Morrison said when quizzed about what needs to turn.

"It's simple, but the hardest thing to do, to put the ball in the back of the net. That's what I'm trying to do.

"How can we attack better? How can we go and survive in a way that we're all happy, with one way of playing and we're all in the same direction?

"How do we attack better? Simple as that. That is my personality that I want - trying to attack."

In defence, the Baggies have mustered just seven clean sheets all season and have the division’s second-poorest goal difference of minus-18.

The team were jeered off at Oxford and Morrison said: "I understand it. As workers for this football club we've got to accept it. 

“We've got to accept all the criticism coming and in the next 11 games we're going to probably get it again. But it's how we deal with that, simple as that."

Albion are also attempting to snap a poor recent record at Bramall Lane, where they are winless in their last four visits.

The home side, beaten 2-0 at The Hawthorns in December, have won five of their last eight matches and just nine points adrift of the top-six with 11 matches to play, cannot yet be counted out of the play-off race.

That makes it a big game for both teams, though it is the visitors who desperately need something to turn.