EDDIE Newton claimed Albion's naivety cost them dear as they were caught by a 'sucker punch' in their disappointing home defeat by Swansea.
Craig Beattie returned to haunt his former club as he scored the only goal of the game five minutes into the second half on his first Hawthorns return.
A below-par Baggies could only muster one shot on target throughout the game as they struggled to break down a well-drilled Swans defence that boasts the second-best record in the Coca-Cola Championship.
Despite the reverse, Newcastle's 2-1 loss at Scunthorpe means Albion remain top of the table, but they now have eight teams within three points of them.
"We got caught by a sucker punch," said Newton, who deputised for flu-victim Roberto Di Matteo at the post-match press conference.
"We showed a little bit of naivety and got punished for it.
"We know what Craig can do.
"We warned the boys and told them what his positives and negatives are.
"The problem is, we keep giving teams a goal start here.
"At present, it seems that a goal has to go in before we kick into gear.
"We are trying to tackle it and sort it out - but it takes time.
"We've got a young squad and there is some naive play at times.
"Sometimes, you need an older professional like they had in their skipper Alan Tate.
"He did some cute things tonight and got away with it.
"We didn't have that sort of player doing that for us.
"These are parts of the game we need to develop as a young squad."
Di Matteo made a double substitution at half-time with Luke Moore and Marek Cech making way for Robert Koren and Filipe Teixeira.
But not even fresh legs could prise open the visitors' backline.
"We thought Luke looked tired because he has just come back from injury," Newton added.
"It was a little bit too much for him to play two games in quick succession.
"Marek was a little bit off the pace so we thought we'd give him a rest and bring on the two boys."
Newton has called on the older heads in the Baggies dressing room to lead from the front on the pitch.
But he also admitted the Hawthorns coaching staff are putting plans in place to strengthen the squad in January.
"We asked in the dressing room for the more experienced players to stand up," said Di Matteo's No.2.
"We're all in this together - win, lose or draw.
"At present, when things are going against us and the opposition are a hard nut to crack, it just needs a senior player to say calm down when in possession.
"Also, when we lose possession, we need them not to go mad and to stay compact.
"We do everything together - both attacking and defending.
"These are the things we are trying to establish within the side and, in the most part, they're doing it.
"They've played some fantastic stuff already this season.
"But there are times when we will get hurt like this and it's a hard pill to swallow.
"However, we, as a coaching staff, have got to look at the longevity of the season and not get carried away.
"Obviously, we've got to focus on why things are going wrong at home sometimes when we lose that first goal or show a little bit of naivety.
"That's what we're doing every day.
"It's hard when we get in a process like this and we're going from game to game, playing Saturday-Tuesday all the time.
"It's very hard to work on those things on the training ground.
"Every day seems to be recovery, recovery and tactics, tactics and you can't really work on the subjects you want to work on.
"When we have a bit of time, we will work on it.
"Until then we have to keep going like everyone else."
Newton added: "We're always looking at new players.
"We're not saying this is the squad and that's it.
"We're looking towards January and we just have to make sure we bring in the right personnel and don't panic.
"There's no point in getting someone in who isn't exactly the player we need.
"It's no good for them and it's no good for us.
"We've targeted areas and we're working on it."
