West Brom's Conor Townsend insists away form needs to improve for top six push
Left-back Conor Townsend warned Albion can only mount a top-six push with a turnaround in results on the road.
Carlos Corberan's side welcome Championship strugglers Huddersfield Town to The Hawthorns tomorrow but it is on their travels the Baggies have come unstuck of late.
While the home form has been almost flawless under the Spaniard – nine wins and a draw from 10 with just one goal conceded – it is now five straight defeats away, a run that will be tested in south Wales against Cardiff next Wednesday in the final fixture before the international break.
"We're not trying to do that, it just seems to have fallen that way," Townsend said of Albion's polarised records. "If we want to get into the play-off picture we need to change that.
"We're behind at the minute and we need to pick up points away from home. But we know that, we've got to take the positives into Saturday.
"We spoke at the start of the season about making this place a fortress, obviously the start didn't go well but since the gaffer's come in it does feel like that.
"When we play at home I fancy us against anyone, with the crowd behind us and the football we're playing we do seem to be dominating teams at home, maybe more so than away, I'm not sure why."
Townsend, who himself has netted twice on the road since the turn of the year at Luton and Watford, knows another recent struggle has been in front of goal.
Ninth-placed Albion are joint-seventh for goals scored with 45 from their 35 Championship outings. Daryl Dike took his total to six against Wigan on Tuesday, one shy of Brandon Thomas-Asante in all competitions.
Last week Corberan's men paid for the lack of a killer touch in the 2-0 defeat at Hull, leaving the head coach frustrated. Albion could have been out of sight on an otherwise sticky evening against Wigan, too. The Baggies have managed 1.39 goals per match at home, but just 1.18 away.
"At the minute we're not taking our chances, it was evident against Hull and even the other night," the full-back added.
"We know that we can't keep doing that, it's got to change if we want to be in those play-offs, but three points were the most important thing and we've got to take the positives into Huddersfield.
"It's another big game at home and hopefully we can keep the run going here."
