West Brom comment: The Albion attacking puzzle Ryan Mason needs to solve - despite solid Championship start

Ryan Mason has enjoyed a steady start to life in the Albion hotseat - with their early season form of three wins from four games coming before a slight dip in recent weeks.

In their last five outings, Albion have lost three with their only victory coming in the form of a battling win on the road at Norwich City.

They looked to have all three points sewn up against relegated Leicester City - but after spurning a host of second half chances, the Foxes struck at the death to earn a point.

Out of their first nine games, Mason's men have picked up four victories and for the majority of the time have had a tight backline that has conceded just ten goals so far.

However, the goals for column has been a bit of a stumbling block for Albion. They have netted just nine goals in the first nine games, with only one player in Isaac Price scoring over three goals.

It is a slight conundrum that Albion and Mason face as they head back after the break - with a tricky home game with Preston North End up first.

Jonny Drury looks at Albion's lack of goals, certainly at home, and how Mason may go about fixing it:

A formation change

Of the nine goals Albion have scored, six of them have come on the road while they have scored just three goals at The Hawthorns.

And it is at The Hawthorns where they have had more issues this season. Against Portsmouth and Derby, they have struggled to break them down, which has been an issue that predates Mason's time at Albion. Clubs coming to the Baggies, sitting in and the home side not having the answer.

As they have done in previous seasons, Albion play with a 4-2-3-1 system, where Jayson Molumby and Alex Mowatt are the sitting midfielders.

Mowatt's importance to the Albion side has been well stated - while Molumby is given that freedom to roam forward when he can.

It is a system that has worked at times on the road for Albion, where they have had success playing on the break, such as at Wrexham and Stoke.

But at home, it may be time to mix it up a bit and commit more men forward. Could Mason sacrifice that sitting midfielder, and play with two number tens and an extra man further forward?

Another thought could be a change to a 4-3-3 system. It is something Tony Mowbray did try during last spell.

It would allow Mason to bring in Toby Collyer into a three man midfield - but then that brings a headache in other areas. Where does Price go, do both Mikey Johnston and Samuel Iling-Junior play?

They are options that Mason could well turn to, in a bid to get Albion firing.

Time for two up top

The previous point leads nicely into this next one - because there may be a world, certainly at home where Albion have won once so far this season, where Mason could go with two up front.

Price has been just off the front man for much of the season - but in recent weeks he has been quiet so maybe playing a little deeper may aid the Northern Ireland international, and help him get into the game more.

That could happen if Albion went two up, with both Aune Heggebo and Josh Maja playing. From what we have seen of both, they could compliment each other very well.

Both can drop slightly deeper and link the play. We know Maja is a clinical finisher but we haven't seen enough of Heggebo in the box in the opening weeks to judging his finishing qualities.

But with these two up top, we may just see that quality and it would give Albion more options at the top end of the field.

'Take your chances'

As much as Mason could change things up and make little tweaks here and there, in the majority of the games so far this season, if Albion had taken their chances, they would have won more often than not.

Against Portsmouth and Derby, chances were at a premium but they still had opportunities. Against Leicester, Albion should really have been out of sight, with the goals for column bulging by the final whistle.

Norwich and then Millwall after different stories, and outliers to what had come before. But they did bring their concerns about the lack of creativity, certainly against Millwall.

The key to Albion being clinical at the moment is having Maja on the pitch more often than not - because when he plays and gets a run in the side we know he will score goals.

The positives have been there from the early days of Mason - that is clear. But one slight concern going into the Preston game is the lack of goals, a puzzle the Albion boss needs to solve.