‘A lot of work to do’: West Brom boss with strong message as Championship opener approaching
Ryan Mason said his Albion side must cut out the goals and improve to “turn around the feeling” they had after defeat to Lincoln City.
The Baggies conceded twice inside the opening three-minutes of play as they were comfortably beaten 4-2 by the Imps at Sincil Bank on Saturday.
The loss followed defeats to Blackpool and Fulham and meant Mason’s side remained winless in pre-season since victory over Port Vale on July 4.
Karlan Grant and Devante Cole netted for Albion. But, Mason was disappointed with his side’s performance in front of more than 1,200 travelling supporters with the start of Albion’s Championship campaign less than two weeks away.
“I know it’s pre-season but it does matter, it matters to me,” the Baggies boss said. “Every game that we play in, it matters.
“I take away from it that there is a lot of work to do, I think we know that.
“The league is two weeks away so we need to continue to work on the training pitch and improve, and turn this feeling around that we have just had.
“From a physical point of view it was okay, but that’s not enough.
“They (Grant and Cole) both influenced the game by getting on the scoresheet, it’s something that we want from all of our attacking players.
“But, I think ultimately the most important thing is that we need to focus on the team principles and stop goals going in at the other end.
“That’s something that we need to put a lot of energy into.”
Mason revealed that Daryl Dike was missing as a “caution” due to him feeling “tight”.
Meanwhile, Ousmane Diakite was also absent after suffering a knock to his ankle.
New signings Aune Heggebo and George Campbell both featured in the loss, and a positive was a short second-half cameo from Josh Maja who returned to training from injury last week.
Mason was pleased to have the forward back, adding: “We know Josh’s qualities. He has had a very long time out, so we need to respect that and build up the robustness for what is coming ahead.
“But, for him, psychologically it is good to get out on the pitch and hopefully build up some confidence.”
Albion welcome Rayo Vallecano on Saturday for Mason’s first game in charge at The Hawthorns and their final pre-season game.
Comment Guidelines
Iconic Media encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.