West Brom head coach James Morrison admitted his players “didn’t have that belief” as they suffered a disappointing 1-0 Championship defeat to Wolves at Molineux on Sunday.
The Baggies struggled to impose themselves in the West Midlands derby, with Morrison acknowledging that anxiety and a lack of belief allowed Wolves to take control.
The only goal came after Nat Phillips gave the ball away under pressure, with Fer Lopez capitalising on the mistake to put Wolves ahead on 50 minutes.
Morrison was particularly disappointed with the way his side repeatedly chose to play backwards rather than take the game to their rivals.
Under pressure
“In games like this, you have to be able to deal with the pressure,” Morrison told the press after the match.
“We just didn’t have that belief, we caused our own anxiety and that gave them a lift.
“They had the belief they could come after us and get success from it.
“I was delighted to get to half-time at 0-0, Max [O’Leary] made some fantastic saves.
“But we went backwards, maybe it was just a bit of being safe rather than getting forwards and imposing ourselves.
“We made too many mistakes and you can’t do that in a game like this.”
Morrison calls for reaction
Goalkeeper Max O’Leary was one of the few positives for West Brom, producing an outstanding display to keep Wolves at bay before the break.
Morrison admitted Phillips was understandably disappointed after his costly mistake, but backed the defender to respond.
“He owned up to his mistake, but he’s been immense over the last couple of weeks,” said the Baggies boss.
“Mistakes happen, now I want to see a reaction.
“We had loads of time after passing the ball out.
“There was a gap to play forwards and we turned it down. That’s what I’m disappointed in.
“We went backwards and did that too many times, maybe we were too anxious.
“It summed up the game, we didn’t have the quality at the top end of the pitch and that’s something we’re going to have to address.
“You can’t gift goals like that.”
Wolves boss hails quality
Wolves head coach Cesar Peixoto was delighted with the response from his players as they secured a deserved derby victory.
Peixoto praised the “big soul, big organisation and big quality” shown by his side, who created the better chances and continually put West Brom under pressure.
“We knew how important this game was to our supporters and for ourselves,” he told the press.
“The players deserved this win, they showed big soul, big organisation and big quality.
“We created a lot of chances and could have scored more goals.
“I liked the way we played, it left me happy. I’m very enthusiastic for all the games.
“We didn’t let them play as they wanted to.”
Plan executed to perfection
Peixoto also challenged Lopez to improve despite the midfielder scoring the decisive goal.
“He can do better,” he said. “He played well, but I want more from him and all the players.
“At half-time, I told the team it was not enough.
“I told them not to drop the intensity because we deserved to score.
“They followed the plan to perfection.”
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