Swansea City v West Brom: Performance needed to avoid unwanted record under Don Howe in early 70s

It brought a crumb of comfort and helped stop any rot but the real rut Ryan Mason's side must crawl from is on their travels.

The current run is historically bad. It had been three decades since Albion lost eight away matches on the spin in the second tier and the last time that became nine in any division was Don Howe's relegated Division One class of 1972/73.

Back then, in Howe's second season at the helm, a measly pointless return began in the new year - at Sheffield United on January 6 - and dragged on all the way until the end of the campaign and a 3-2 defeat at Birmingham.

Needless to say if Mason's crop of 2025/26 endure a similar run to the end of the season then the same demoted outcome beckons.

South Wales hosts Swansea are the next opportunity for Albion to end an embarrassing sequence that started on October 4. The Swans are resurgent under new boss Vitor Matos and since losing a rollercoaster clash at The Hawthorns in late November have won four from six including all three at their Liberty Stadium home.

"It's a challenge, certainly," Mason said. "Our away form has not been good enough, we know that.

"In our last away performance, at Hull, we played a really good game. That was the reality.

"We had had opportunities to score, didn't take them, gave a penalty away from a silly situation. So we need to be disciplined. We need to play a good game in order to get anything from it."

Albion home victories against QPR this week and Sheffield United earlier in the month gave examples of deserved victories having avoided handing out needless gifts to opposition.

Mason pointed to the Boxing Day defeat at Bristol City, though, as an example of decisions conspiring against his side.

"You need to learn from mistakes," the Albion boss added. "It's a responsibility we all need to take, the players as well.

"Bristol City was tough because it was a clear offside goal after four minutes and it changed the feeling straight away. Then there was a blatant red card at 1-0 that should have been awarded.

"It was two really poor decisions that affected our ability to build momentum. But having said that, we still created a lot of opportunities and the players responded. So sometimes you don't give gifts. Sometimes gifts are given that are out of your hands."

Swansea won 1-0 at managerless Oxford on Monday courtesy of Zan Vipotnik's 10th Championship goal. The Slovenian has 13 this term for club and country.

The Swans are up to 18th, just two points and two places below Thursday's visitors. They are assessing Liam Cullen (calf) and Adam Idah (hamstring).

Albion boss Mason will weigh up whether to have defender Krystian Bielik (ankle) on the bench again after revealing the Pole was not ready to feature against QPR despite his inclusion.

Right-back Alfie Gilchrist serves the final of his three-match ban. Jayson Molumby (calf) overcame his injury to return as a substitute with Jed Wallace (calf) still sidelined.