West Brom appeared to be heading towards a shock defeat on the weekend against bottom-of-the-league Colchester. The U's twice led and were 3-2 until injury time when strikes from Roman Bednar and James Morrison gave the Baggies a crucial win. But despite the three points manger Tony Mowbray was less than impressed and demanded tighter defending from his Premiership hopefuls.
"The way we are defending at the moment is a huge disappointment," he said. "We know we can score goals and to score four is fantastic. To get the three points is a positive but there are too many negatives for my liking. Is it going to be our Achilles heel at the end of the season? I would suggest if we don't find the improvement it may well be."
It is not the first time that defensive frailties have threatened to cost them dear. Two weeks ago they were turned over 4-1 at home to struggling Leicester. 78 league goals scored is the best record in the Championship by some distance, but 51 conceded at the other end is a worse record than 22nd Sheffield Wednesday. Clean sheets are a rare sight for West Brom fans, but it's also nine games since they last failed to score themselves.
Albion have struggled against the top ten in recent weeks. They managed a point at Charlton and Crystal Palace, but were beaten 2-1 by Hull City on home soil. They are often brilliant and can destroy their opposition with attractive, fluent play, but catch them on an off-day and you have more than half a chance. The Baggies have been beaten eight times on the travels this season, three more times than City on the road. They have drawn just three and won seven.
They do score considerably more at the Hawthorns than they do elsewhere, 49 of their 78 coming in front of their own supporters. Mowbray will surely urge his players to keep it tight at Ninian tonight, but the records suggest that they are simply incapable of doing so. The all-time record between the two sides shows West Brom have 21 victories to City's 15. Twelve have ended in a draw, including the last meeting at Ninian Park last season, which finished 1-1.
Baggies squad v Colchester: Kiely, Hoefkens (Miller 70), Cesar (Clement 46), Albrechtsen, Robinson, Gera, Greening, Koren (Morrison 72), Brunt, Bednar, Phillips. Subs Not Used: Kim, Pele. Booked: Bednar. Goals: Phillips 36, Brunt 39, Bednar 90, Morrison 90.
