Gareth McAuley wants West Brom to put it right
West Brom defender Gareth McAuley today challenged his team-mates to "put things right" as they geared up for their return to action on Saturday.
The Baggies will play after a two-week break when they face Newcastle at the Hawthorns looking to bounce back from defeats against West Ham and Arsenal.
And Player of the Season front-runner McAuley admitted today that Steve Clarke's men are anxious to right the wrongs of their last two fixtures.
The Northern Ireland international admitted: "The performance at West Ham wasn't right. We knew that.
"I don't know what our record is after international breaks but there never seems to be the same energy in the team, for whatever reason.
"We were disappointed at West Ham. We let ourselves down in that game and the goals against Arsenal were disappointing, even though we could have got something from that game.
"We have lost two and we need to put it right. With Newcastle coming up, there is no better game to do it."
The Baggies are targeting an improvement on their best ever Premier League points total of 47 – achieved in both of the last two seasons – while they look odds-on to better their highest Premier League finish of 10th place.
And McAuley admitted they have a point to prove to the Magpies after dominating their game at St James' Park in October before losing 2-1 to a cruel deflection in the final minute.
He said: "We were going through a patch where we were conceding late goals and that one topped it off.
"The shot was flying wide, hit Papiss Cisse on the back and went across the goal. It was a bitter pill to swallow."
