Express & Star

Ally Robertson: No need to worry just yet, but the pressure is on West Brom today

If Albion were near the bottom of the league at this stage of the season then shipping four goals at home would obviously be cause for worry.

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Darren Moore. (AMA)

But the team is still in the top six, and start this weekend two points off the top, and that shouldn’t be forgotten.

As long as Darren Moore and his side bounce back from these set-backs, they will quickly fade from memory, but they have heaped the pressure on today’s game with Blackburn.

Two defeats in a row is a blip, but three would be a problem.

As it stands, I agree with Darren Moore. This front-foot philosophy has got us to where we are, and it plays to our strengths. It is worth persevering with.

But they've got to produce a performance now. Lose to Tony Mowbray and Moore will have to look at tweaking either his approach or his system.

I remember shipping seven goals at Ipswich under Johnny Giles. He ordered the squad to never mention it again, and just focus on the next game.

We went on to finish seventh in the First Division that year. And we ended up beating Ipswich 4-0 at home later that season!

Gilesy also wanted us to play out from the back, like Moore, and it took time for us to get used to that after Don Howe.

At this stage of his first season in charge we were fourth from bottom, but then everything clicked and we ended up winning promotion.

So it’s worth remembering we are still in the top six and we’ve started the season brightly.

We actually started Wednesday’s game brightly too – it was probably the best start I’ve seen from an Albion side this season but after 15 minutes we were 2-0 down.

Then, as the game wore on, there’s no denying the passing was atrocious and not at the level it should have been.

There's no great team in this division, no team that wants to strike out on its own at the top.

Derby were clinical on Wednesday but not as good as the scoreline suggests, we gifted them the lead early on and then chased the game.

We are now starting to pick up a few injuries but the good news is that Jake Livermore is back from suspension this weekend.

If Kieran Gibbs sits out then Conor Townsend can slot in, and up front, if Dwight Gayle is missing then it could be time for Oliver Burke to shine.

The international break seems to have knocked us off our stride, but it’s key that we find it again quickly, starting today.