Albion face Spurs at White Hart Lane on Sunday (ko 1.30pm)
CRAIG Gardner insists “no-one is hiding” as Albion go in search of their first Barclays Premier League victory of the season.
Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at home to Everton leaves the Baggies with two points from their opening four matches having claimed draws against Sunderland and Southampton.
Gardner labelled England’s top flight as “the toughest league in the world” after two individual errors were ruthlessly punished by the Toffees.
And as the Baggies prepare to head to Tottenham on Sunday (ko 1.30pm), the midfielder insists he and his team-mates are working hard to turn the corner and get points on the board quickly.
“We need to start winning games and getting points,” he said.
“It’s still early on in the season and the team is still new and gelling together.
“Every day is crucial for us and work on the training ground is crucial but it’s tough to take at the moment.”
Gardner added: “We’re a team and we will take it on the chin.
“No-one is hiding, we are always trying to play and get results but this is the toughest league in the world.
“We will get there.
“We’ve still got three or four players missing from the squad. Once we get a settled team and work with that it will be much better.”
Albion conceded after just two minutes against the Toffees, having also done the same in defeat at Swansea and similarly early on in the draw against Sunderland on the opening day.
But the Baggies went on to dominate the opening hour or so, albeit lacking the required cutting edge in the final third.
And they were punished in the 66th minute as Everton countered to take a two-goal lead and effectively end the clash as a contest.
“We conceded a goal really early again but then in the first half I thought we were unlucky,” Gardner said.
“We played some decent stuff and worked hard and caused them problems at times.
“We had a few chances we could have converted and if we’d got one it would have been a different game. But Everton are a good side.
“I thought we finished the first half as the better team and in the second half we wanted to press them high and nick things around the box, which we did.
“We had a couple of shots but you live and learn and it was just two individual errors.”