Ally Robertson: Slump shows there remains much work ahead for West Brom
That this has been an immensely frustrating few weeks for Albion goes without saying.
A run of just one win in eight – and five games without a goal – is threatening to provide a sour end to what has been on the whole a pretty encouraging campaign.
I still believe this will have been a season to shout about, regardless of what happens over the final four games.
The team has made undoubted progress and we are on a much better footing than 12 months ago.
It is just a shame that, over the past few weeks, the little things haven’t quite fallen our way.
The last three home games make the case. We did not deserve to lose either one of them but failed to take our chances and ultimately got beaten by one, single lapse which allowed the opposition to take the points.
It is not down to a lack of effort, or anything like that, at least not in my view. Simply, the breaks have not been quite falling our way.
Rather than ruining all the hard work which went on before it, the past few weeks have simply been a reminder of the work which is still left to be done if we are to become a genuine top half team.
A couple of months ago it was tempting to think we had already made it. We seemed close to unbeatable at home and even had ambitions of challenging Everton for seventh place.
When you analyse it closely, it is a combination of small factors which has caused the slump.
Matt Phillips’ injury troubles have undoubtedly been a blow. The winger, a bargain at just £5million last summer, had been Albion’s most creative player during their excellent run from early November to late February.
Coupled to that you have a handful of players who have had strong seasons who are now probably feeling the pace of a long, hard campaign.
They are still giving it their all but the few extra percent which can often make a difference has been missing. Albion have a very small squad and at the business end of the season it is starting to tell.
Then, of course, you have the continued struggles of Salomon Rondon, who is now 19 games without a goal and counting.
Regular readers of this space will know I have always been a big fan of the Venezuelan, who I believe has played an important and selfless role for the team.
But when the goals start to dry up, it is only natural people will start to look at the forward line and question why he is not weighing in with his share of goals.
One of the first priorities this summer has to be bringing in another striker to play alongside him - or at the very least to ease the burden which has weighed heavily on Rondon and Hal Robson-Kanu.
