Analysis - Half-way through the season and relegation fears beginning to loom for West Brom

Albion have not had time to dwell on their missed opportunity at Stoke, they've not been left to stew on what might have been.

Because today, just three days later, they have a chance to rectify their mistakes with a home game against Everton.

The Baggies did a light training session at 10am on Christmas Day, and no doubt Pardew would have been full of festive cheer in an attempt to focus on the positives.

He reckons the second half reaction in the Potteries bodes well for the rest of the season, he believes that illusive victory is getting nearer.

Albion had 57 per cent possession at the bet365 Stadium, registered 17 shots to Stoke's nine, and had 11 corners to Stoke's one.

They dominated large spells of the game and the 3-1 scoreline flatters the hosts, who rode their luck throughout the second period.

But even though there are positives to be had, half-way through the season, the negatives are still vastly outweighing them.

Once again, Albion have found a way to lose against a woefully out-of-form team who were there for the taking.

Against Southampton they let the game drift aimlessly to allow their hosts grow in confidence.

At Huddersfield, they too fearful, Swansea could have been put down to an off-day.

This time around, they gifted Stoke two goals through their own defensive mistakes.

Allan Nyom allowed Joe Allen to get in front of him to sweep home the first, and the second came after a worrying catalogue of errors.

Jonny Evans got sucked too far up the pitch by Peter Crouch, Gareth Barry was outmuscled by Allen, Ahmed Hegazi was out of position, and then Ben Foster rushed out too quickly.

Alarm bells should be ringing when three of your experienced heads and your best signing of the summer are making mistakes.

It's difficult to gauge how much of that second-half dominance was down to Albion improving, or a Stoke side desperately trying to get over the line.

The answer is it was probably a mixture of the two, but the fact the Baggies still lost when Stoke were so vulnerable does not – in fact – bode well.

The Potters had lost five in six before that game, Mark Hughes was on the brink.

Today, Albion come up against an Everton side unbeaten in six since Sam Allardyce was announced.

Pardew has not yet had the same impact on results as Allardyce has on Merseyside, as Roy Hodgson has at Crystal Palace, or even as David Moyes has at West Ham.

He claimed afterwards that Albion just needed that stroke of luck to go their way, or the ball to fall kindly in the box.

It's the same thing Hughes was saying before the game, it's the same thing all managers say down the bottom.

But both sides got their stroke of luck on Saturday. The difference is, when Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting's shot bounced kindly to Peter Crouch, Stoke capitalised.

When Salomon Rondon wasn't flagged offside because Kurt Zouma inadvertently directed the ball into his path eight yards out, he blazed over.

Pardew's decision to play Chris Brunt in a central position worked well, but it's a damning indictment on the transfer business that he is the answer after the club signed three central midfielders in 2017.

Jake Livermore remains bulletproof, but he is a holding midfielder, not a right winger. He looked out of his depth on the edge of the area, unsure what to do.

Livermore is built like a tank, and can be a useful functional midfielder further back, but you don't use a sledgehammer to unpick the lock, you need something more finely tuned than that.

Pardew still believes there is enough quality in this squad to stay up, but it's obvious they need help in January.

Saturday's starting XI was woefully short of attacking quality, and the deficiencies have now been magnified by Nacer Chadli limping off 15 minutes after coming on.

There is still half of the season to go, and the congested nature of the league gives hope. It will not take 40 points to stay up this season.

But the prospect of relegation is beginning to loom ever larger.