James Morrison is adamant Albion need to “attack the situation together” as they battle to retain their Sky Bet Championship status in the final two months of the 2025/26 campaign.
Morrison, who will lead the men’s first team for the remainder of the season, takes his squad up to Bramall Lane for a clash with Sheffield United on Saturday afternoon (ko 3pm).
The Baggies were beaten 2-1 at Oxford United last weekend, a result which extended their winless run to 13 matches in all competitions.
It was a performance and scoreline which left Morrison “emotional”, but he insists he’s up for the fight and believes he can help steer the club to safety.
The interim head coach said: “I addressed the players this week to give them clarity. We’ve all got the same goal and we’ve got to work together to achieve it. Let’s go for it. Let’s go and attack this situation all together. The biggest thing we can have is belief.
“I wouldn’t have taken this job on if I didn’t think that I could do it, and it’s as simple as that. I’ve brought some people in to help me with that, but I’ve also got confidence in my own ability. I believe in the group and I like a challenge.
“I’ve been here for around 18 or 19 years at this club now. I know there’s inexperience in terms of being in a position like this, but I’ve got plenty of experience of this football club.
“We know what we need to do to get ourselves out of this relegation battle. It’s not going to be pretty. We have to find a way to win.
“Ever since I’ve been in this role I’ve spoken about the need to play forward. I felt as though, when we went 2-0 down last weekend and we were trying to get back into the game, we played a bit desperately. We didn’t play with a calmness and we tried to force the ball. We have to be more patient moving forward and we have to wait for the critical moment where we find that last pass and that will give us better opportunities.
“I was very emotional after last weekend’s game and I think I had every right to be. I’m going to be honest with the group and the fans. That will be my approach and I think they’ll respect that.
“I wanted a reaction this week and I’ve felt that in training, which is positive. We’ve prepared well and properly. Now it’s about executing the plan and being in the game and giving ourselves a chance. We haven’t been doing that lately. I believe we can turn things around by being out on the training pitch in the week and working hard on our game plan.
“I’ve told the lads that we need something to hold on to and to kick-start this mini season we have in front of us. We need to get the ball rolling and hopefully that starts on Saturday.”
Hosts Sheffield United had an incredibly poor start to the term, losing nine of their first ten games.
They’ve turned their season around in spectacular style and have their sights set on clawing back ground on the teams above them in the table, with the top six a realistic target.
Morrison stressed the importance of “standing up to the challenge” when addressing the media on Friday afternoon at The Fitlife Foods Performance Centre.
He added: “I’ve got a huge amount of respect for Chris Wilder and the jobs he has done at Sheffield United.
“They’re almost a blueprint for us in terms of how they were down at the bottom before managing to drag themselves up the table. It’s a really tough place to go and we know what to expect. We have to stand up to the challenge and be ready.
“We know they’ll come after us in the opening period of the game. They’re looking up the table and three points for them could be really important. They’ve got talented players at the top end of the pitch and they’ve got defenders who like to push on so we need to be ready.”
