West Brom encouraged to show quality and play-off capability in crunch clash
Albion have been encouraged to let their football do the talking in a bid to prove they are ready for a Championship play-off place.
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Tony Mowbray's men slipped out of the play-off places to eighth with Saturday's 1-0 home reverse to Sunderland and visit one of their direct rivals Bristol City on Tuesday.
The Baggies head coach was encouraged by how his side attacked against Sunderland, but acknowledged the final product was lacking once again as Albion drew another blank.
"I say to the players 'let's make the play-offs - do we fear Sunderland if we faced them in a Wembley final or over two legs?' I don't think so," said Mowbray, who had admitted his players were left feeling "desolate" after Saturday's defeat.
"I think we know we're a good team - but you have to put the ball in the back of the net to show the world how good you are.
"Nobody's interested in 64 per cent possession and 21 shots, you see the score and think Sunderland were good again. I saw (Sunderland commentator) Nick Barnes down there and asked if you deserved to win today and he said 'yeah - defence was brilliant'. Is your defence going to be brilliant every week and win you games? Probably not.
"I would rather be the team dominating the game, having all the shots, if we do that every week we have to win, yet for two weeks now we've dominated the game, had all the shots, all the field tilt, the game's played in the opposition half and yet we've lost 1-0. We have to find the answer to put the ball in the net."
Albion's goal return of 48 from 40 games is among the worst of the top 10 and the Baggies' draw total - 18, now matched by league rivals Preston as the most in the country's professional game - has been a hinderance this term.
Mowbray, who was brought in to free up the side to score in the final third, added: "I've got to pick them up - of course - that's the job.
"You've watched the games and I know journalists, with respect to you, are not football experts but you see how we try to attack. What was the plan today, how do you play? You maybe don't see all that, the result dictates the narrative and story.
"I feel as if the footballers understand how we tried to attack, what we did differently without (Isaac) Price to do something different. There was so much right about how we attacked and played against a very good team."
