Club News

Sawyers sets sights on return to top form

Romaine Sawyers is targeting a sharp return to form after admitting Albion’s quality “hasn’t been the same” in recent weeks.

The Baggies, who were beaten 1-0 on home soil by Stoke City on Monday night, remain top of the Sky Bet Championship table, but Slaven Bilic’s men are now without a league victory in their last six games.

But the midfielder insists Albion’s dip in performance levels isn’t a result of a lack of effort or will and says his team-mates are focused on turning their fortunes around.

“Our quality hasn’t been the same as it was at the start of the season,” admitted Romaine.

“It’s not for a lack of effort or a lack of will.

“We’re still pushing each other in training every day. We’re still trying the right things. For whatever reason, it’s just not clicking.

“It’s a tough league and we’ve got a lot of games.

“Everyone will keep trying to do the right things and hopefully it will turn again and we start playing the football we know we can.

“We are getting the respect that we deserve from our start to the season. You can see the way that teams are coming into games against us. I think any team that plays against us would be happy with a point.

“I think if we give them the lead, that’s a big incentive for them to defend.”

He added: “We’ve all got a role to play.

“The league table doesn’t lie. Our consistency at the start of the season put us in a great position to the point where when we do have this blip, we’re still at the top of the table.

“We’re still motivated, hungry and focused on our games and not the results of the other teams around us.

“We all know what we want to achieve.”