Valerien Ismael: West Brom performance a step in the right direction

The Baggies travelled to Lancashire having lost their last four away games in the Championship.

But while they put an end to that losing streak, they were unable to find the win they craved as they were held to a goalless draw by Neil Critchley's side.

Albion's performance, though, did warrant all three points with the likes of Karlan Grant, Matt Clarke and Jordan Hugill all having big chances to win the game for their side.

And Ismael felt his team did everything but score over the course of the 90 minutes.

"I think it was a very good performance - mentality, desire, intensity," the boss said.

"Our press situation - we pressed very well, we won a lot of balls.

"We should score goals again. It was just the goal, to finish the job.

"But we can take a lot of positives after four losses in a row.

"We stopped the bleeding with that performance and we can continue to build on it.

"It’s a slight step ahead, now we have a chance on Friday (against Nottingham Forest) with a home game, to get the next three points."

Albion lost 1-0 at Huddersfield on Saturday - with fans critical of both Ismael and the players following their display at the John Smith's Stadium.

And the Frenchman revealed following that game, he had a long meeting with his squad.

"You can lose games - it doesn’t mean everything is s**t," the boss continued.

"Huddersfield wasn’t bad in some situations, the result was poor.

"After the game, we had a long meeting with the guys, we spoke and we felt something positive, something in the right direction.

"Today is the next step, we are now closer than we were last Saturday.

"We build on it, the intensity, we were more stable. We put in the effort. It was a tough away game, Blackpool have played a good season and we have to say from them it was a great performance.

"Now we need to recover and go again on Friday."