Eric Ramsay believes Albion gave themselves a “mountain to climb” by conceding two “really disappointing” goals against Coventry City on Saturday.
Efforts from Ephron Mason-Clark and Jack Rudoni inside the opening 32 minutes put the league leaders in a favourable position at The Hawthorns.
Ramsay’s team tried to find a way back into the contest towards the end of the first period and throughout the second, but were unable to pull a goal back.
The boss admits the Baggies have to “find another level” and quickly if they’re to pull themselves away from trouble.
Eric said: “The balance of the performance overall was, perhaps, as we would have hoped to an extent in the sense that it was relatively even in terms of what was created, balance of the game and dominance of the ball.
“However, we really haven’t helped ourselves in the manner of giving the goals away in the way that we did. We followed up a good first five or six minutes, where we started on the front foot and had a sense of energy and aggression to the performance, with a goal that we’ll look back on and really kick ourselves.
“That’s then followed up not too long after by another that will really disappoint us. It feels like the opposition hasn’t had to work particularly hard to find themselves in the position they were in after the first 30 minutes. After that, we’ve got a mountain to climb.
“Whilst there are elements of the hour that follows that we can, of course, look back on and feel like we can grab and take into Tuesday – the dominance on the ball and the territory in and around the box - we also know we haven’t done enough and we have to do more.
“There’s a real resilience and a grit that is needed to get through the rest of the game in good shape having conceded so early on against the league leaders. We showed components of that, but following that up in the way that we did by conceding a second was not what was required.
“It’s undeniable that we are lacking a spark, real quality and regular opportunities of real note in front of goal. You couldn’t look at our games so far and not arrive at that conclusion. It’s something we have to push and fix quickly.
“Today represents that very, very clearly. We have enough territory around the opposition’s box to create more than we did, but, ultimately, very little comes of it. We’ve got to find a way to be much more ruthless and much more clinical. We have to push the group to do that.
“We’ll need a togetherness and character moving forward. We have to make sure we take what we can from this game into Tuesday’s game. That game comes around quickly and any sense of negativity from this game can’t seep into Tuesday.
“Today was a tough game against a team that is top of the table for a reason. We find ourselves where we are for a reason. We have to make sure we dust ourselves down very quickly and take a very positive approach over the next two days.
“We know that what we’re doing at this moment isn’t enough. We have to find another level and we have to find it quickly.”
