Matt Clarke urging West Brom to rediscover their mojo
Matt Clarke has challenged Albion to reaffirm their status as one of the best teams in the Championship – as they prepare to face Blackpool tonight.
The Baggies head to Bloomfield Road desperate to end a run that has seen them lose their last four games on the road.
That poor form has seen them fall behind in the race for automatic promotion – with Valerien Ismael's men now nine points behind league leaders Fulham and eight behind second-placed Bournemouth.
And Clarke admits performances have to improve if the Baggies want to finish in the top two.
"We want to be the best team in the league," the defender said.
"At the moment we are falling just short but we are doing all we can to put it right.
"We know we have to be better. We have got to be more ruthless at both ends.
"We can’t give away sloppy goals and we have got to create more and be more ruthless in front of goal.
"Teams are giving us a lot of respect, they are playing with a lot of men behind the ball.
"We're having more of the ball and more of a chance to create our own patterns and to dictate play.
"We do bits really well, we move the ball well at times. But it’s turning that into chances – that is the next step for us."
Having been beaten by Stoke, Swansea and Fulham in their three previous away games, the Baggies then lost at Huddersfield on Saturday.
But Clarke insists their poor form on the road isn't playing on the minds of the players.
"We are still unbeaten at home and we don’t think about that too much and we don't think about the bad away form too much either," the 25-year-old continued.
"It's just another game. It was disappointing to lose at Huddersfield. But the nature of the Championship means we now have another game.
"There is no time to sulk or feel sorry for ourselves, we have to dust ourselves down and learn from it. We will do that and move on."
