Ryan Mason insists Albion are determined to put the frustration of back-to-back defeats behind them and emerge victorious from Friday night’s fixture with Leicester City.
The Baggies, sitting seventh in the standings after six encounters, welcome the Foxes, sat one point and three places above the hosts, to The Hawthorns for an eye-catching Sky Bet Championship battle under the lights (ko 8pm).
Mason’s men were beaten 1-0 at home by Derby in their most-recent game in front of their own supporters, and were then edged out 2-1 by table-toppers Middlesbrough last weekend.
Albion had several opportunities in both clashes to score goals and earn points, and the boss believes there’s been a “calmness” within the group regarding the level of performance despite the “disappointment” of the final outcomes.
Ryan is adamant the players will be doing all they can to ensure there are contrasting emotions at the end of the fixture with the Foxes.
He said: “There’s still loads of room for growth and loads of improving we need to do.
“The last two results have been massively disappointing, but there’s been a calmness about the performances and the training we do and the work we do.
“The Derby game you very rarely lose based on the way the contest played out. We had more than enough chances to win and then they scored late on.
“The Middlesbrough game was decided by moments and their second goal came during probably our best period.
“I’m not someone who is obsessed with possession, I’m obsessed with trying to create more chances and score more goals. In the last two games we haven’t scored the goals or got the outcomes we would want in the final third.
“Friday brings a different challenge and we need to be ready for that.
“We want to make sure we’re on the right side of the result this weekend because those two defeats have hurt. Despite the frustration, we can’t get too low and we wouldn’t be getting too high if we had won those matches.
“We understand there’s plenty of football still to be played and we’re trying to improve with each training session and each game.
“There’s an expectation here at the club and within the group that we can’t lose too many games of football, and that’s the right mentality. I have that mentality too. We’ve been disappointed with the last few results, but we’ve worked hard this week and we want to deliver a good performance against Leicester.”
The visitors head to the West Midlands on a four-game unbeaten run and with a clear target of making an immediate return to the top flight following their relegation last year.
Speaking about the opponents, Mason said: “Leicester have a very good squad and there’s plenty of experience in it. They have some real quality players, so we know it’s going to be a challenge.
“We’re determined to put in a performance which will give us a positive result.
“They have good individuals and they’re a good team, but the focus is on us and we have to arrive ready to perform and with a willingness to earn the right to perform.
“It’s another Friday night game and we couldn’t get the three points last Friday night. Our fans will turn out as they always do – our fans are amazing.
“We want to bring the energy and make sure there’s a team on show that they can really get behind.”
