Gareth McAuley: West Brom goal drought bothering players
Gareth McAuley admits Albion’s struggles in front of goal have begun to get into the heads of players after their drought reached record levels.
Saturday’s 1-0 home defeat to Leicester City means the Baggies have now failed to score in five consecutive league games for the first time in their history.
And McAuley said: “The same effort is going in and there’s the same application with the same preparation but we just can’t buy a goal at the moment.
“It’s now five games without a goal and it’s starting to play on our minds.
“We just need a goal to break that duck and get us out that rut.
“It’s just not falling for anyone. We had a few chances. We need a goal to get that off our backs and move on.”
Jamie Vardy’s 43rd-minute goal, after a mistake by Salomon Rondon, was enough to settle a low-key affair at The Hawthorns.
Albion have now been beaten in six of their last eight games, including the last four on the bounce, while failing to score in seven of the last eight.
The top half finish which for so long appeared a formality is now under serious threat and they still require six more points, from their final four games, to reach 50-points for the first time in a Premier League campaign.
And McAuley rejected suggestions Albion might have relaxed after reaching safety and the 40-point mark in late February.
“Let me tell you, we worked hard, we didn’t have a game last weekend – we were in and we were working hard,” he said.
“We definitely haven’t taken our foot off the pedal. We weren’t just ticking over in training, it was good hard sessions, almost like a mini pre-season.
“We want 50 points and it feels like we’ve been saying that for ages now.
“We were stuck on 40 points, got a couple of results, and as a group we’re determined to achieve that.
“We have some tough games coming up but we need to get those results to finish the season on a positive.”
