Town boss Kieran McKenna felt the nature and timing of West Brom’s two goals dictated the feel of the performance and context of the game as his 100th game in charge of the Blues ended in a 2-0 defeat at the Hawthorns.

Darnell Furlong netted in the fifth minute for the Baggies and Grady Diangana two minutes after half-time as the Blues’ 12-match unbeaten run came to an end.

“It wasn’t our night,” McKenna said. “I think the goals, the nature of the goals and the timing of the goals dictated the whole feel of the performance and the context of the game, really.

“It was always going to be a difficult game tonight, coming here after an international break and for a Saturday night game was always going to be very difficult. But to concede on the first corner that they get, makes it really, really difficult.

“We know that West Brom are good at defending leads and in the first half we were pretty comfortable, we were stable in the game, but they’re a hard team to create big chances against.

“We came out at the start of the second half well, we changed a few little things at half-time and I would have fancied us to push on at the start of the second half.

“We did start well for a few minutes, came close with a cross that goes in and earns a corner, but then they score from our corner and that set the context and the feel of the whole second half, really.

“Obviously, it wasn’t our night, credit to the opponent. I think the goals had a massive impact on the feel and the flow of the game, and that’s the main thing that we need to improve on.

“But thankfully we have lots of games coming thick and fast. We’ll have to take it tonight and move on quickly to Wednesday.”

The win moved West Brom up to fifth and McKenna believes the Baggies will be among those challenging come May.

“I think it’s clear to see the quality of their team, the physicality, the athleticism, the amount of Premier League experience they have, the amount of top-end Championship experience they have and they’re well-organised as well,” he reflected.

“They’re a top, top team for this level. It’s a difficult game to come here anyway and to come and concede early, it makes it really, really difficult.”

The loss was only Town’s third in the league in 2023 and their first away in the league since losing 2-1 in the fog at Oxford in January, the Blues having established a new club record of 17 away games unbeaten.

McKenna says it’s now a case of looking ahead to the next match, Millwall’s visit to Portman Road on Wednesday.

“That’s always going to be the case,” he added. “We’re going to lose games this season and it’s about moving onto the next one and about the response that we produce.

“More so, it’s not like we need a big response, we lost a really tough game away to West Brom. We just get ready for Millwall now.

“We won’t ignore the lessons from the game, we’ll reflect on it pretty quickly and we’ll move onto the next game. That’s the nature of the season, it’s a 46-game season and we will lose some games.

“No problem with the players’ effort, no problem with our intent. A couple of mistakes for two goals that hurt us and we’ll learn from that and we’ll move on.”

Town conceded within the first 15 minutes for the sixth game running, something McKenna says has been looked at and discussed but which wasn’t his main frustration from tonight’s match.

“Of course, it’s something that we have analysed and spoken about with the group over the break,” he said.

“But for me, it’s more about how we defended the set play. You’re away from home. No matter how you start a game like this, they’re probably going to get a set play in the first 10 minutes and you have to defend it better than we did.

“Whether that first corner had come in the fifth minute or the 25th minute or the 50th minute, we would have to had to defend it better than that.

“On the flip-side, our first corner, we created a pretty good chance for Jack [Taylor] that we didn’t take.

“I think more than obsessing about the start, we’re aware of it. I’ve been here for two years and it’s not been an issue for us until quite recently.

“But rather than obsessing about the start tonight, we had a really good energy and liked the feel of us in the first couple of minutes, but the first corner that we had to defend, we didn’t defend, so I think it’s more about reflecting on that.

“We’ve been strong on set plays this season, I don’t think we’d conceded one up until Rotherham, but now we’ve conceded a set play against Rotherham, an early set play against Swansea, an early set play tonight, so it’s not like we’re being battered at the start of the games with chances, it’s just defending the set play moments better.”

On-loan Chelsea winger Omari Hutchinson missed the match having been taken ill and would appear a doubt ahead of Wednesday’s game against the Lions.

“He was sick in the night, so left the hotel this morning and went back,” McKenna continued. “So we’ll see how he is on Monday.”

Photo: TWTD

Mr_Jingles added 20:41 - Nov 25 Inevitable that games like this would come along, as there are some tough challenges in this division. You're still the best KMK !!! Onwards and upwards!
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Radlett_blue added 20:44 - Nov 25 I see no reason why having a Saturday night game after an international break made it any more difficult for us than WBA. Yes, conceding early - again - makes any game difficult & after eventually taking control of the game in the first half, conceding on the break early in the second half gave us mountain to climb. Write it off as a bad night - 3 points from Millwall on Tuesday & we can move on.

2

ArnieM added 20:58 - Nov 25 I’ll say it again . Our CB’s are not good enough. They don’t deal with the ball when it comes into the box. We should be able to defend these balls much better..
5

billlm added 21:13 - Nov 25 You can't keep conceding early goals and expect to get away with it forever, soft goal the first one, football lesson tonight against a solid team,
9

KiwiTractor added 21:53 - Nov 25 Sorry KM, but today I did have problem with the players’ effort and intent. No pace to our game, very easy for WBA - looked like men against boys. Hopefully a one-off and we bounce back against Millwall.
2

bobble added 21:57 - Nov 25 its the end of the world !!!!
2

SickParrot added 22:55 - Nov 25 This defeat has been coming because of our poor defending. You can't keep picking up points if you concede 2 goals in every game, as we have in each of our last five. I hope KM will be emphasising this to the players and therefore prioritising defending and ball retention in training this week.
5

Suffolkboy added 01:03 - Nov 26 Absolutely no good crying over spilled milk ! SO we actually lost a game ? — so did anyone with realism honestly think we could go undefeated in a Division higher ? Let’s keep,our feet firmly on the ground — assess , analyse , establish what ,how and where things were imperfect AND ,as we proved we can , move on !, Maybe ,and we shall not know, illness still affects one or two ? We’ve a smashing team ,a great Managerial and coaching set up and a vastly improved outlook everywhere at ITFC : have some faith !! Onwards ! COYB

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waldenblue7 added 07:46 - Nov 26 Easily the worst performance of this and possibly last season. We had momentum prior to the international break and a tough run of games coming up. There does seem to be a few key players out of form which is concerning but I’m confident an early goal on Wednesday will settle the home nerves. COYB!
3

churchmans added 09:00 - Nov 26 Watching that chit Sent shivers down me! It was like looking back 5 years ago! Hopefully a one off! Get back to winning ways Wednesday coyb
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ChrisFelix added 09:51 - Nov 26 Conceding the number of goals we do & especially early ones was always going to catch us out. Our magnificent defensive record last season , was achieved with virtually the same defence..The one exception being the best keeper outside the Premiership. Time to bring back Walton
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Bert added 10:49 - Nov 26 It’s rare for a whole team to have a bad day but that is what happened when WBA went 2-0 up. Until then we were competing. IMO Williams was way out of position for their second goal and for their first we didn’t have anyone at the far post. Mistakes can be corrected but we need to get our intensity back. Total faith in KMcK to put things right and for the players to respond. It is going to get tougher so even more reason to get behind the team.

0

braveblue added 10:56 - Nov 26 And what would Walton have done to stop those goals? Nothing to do with the keeper. First goal Broadhead and Davis between them let their man run free as far as I could see. Second goal centre backs were up for corner. So not their fault either. Our problem last night was too many players off form and not enough class on the bench.
4

Pilgrimblue added 11:17 - Nov 26 What I don’t understand is why we give ball away straight from kick off! Surely it would be better to keep the ball and pass it around just like we do when keeper starts from goal kicks. Make the opposition work while we get some time on the ball. Also I don’t like leaving Hirst isolated, where was CC? And don’t get me started on Woolfy his distribution is poor and he wants to slow the game down, maybe time he was dropped and try Clarke in a position where he may be more comfortable!

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BobbyBell added 11:21 - Nov 26 I thought WBA set up as many teams did in league 1 last season. Two banks of four, press hard and physically, chased everything and surround the ball with two or three players. WBA have much better players than we faced in league 1 and they were too good for us. I think we lacked the movement and speed to deal with it. We lingered on the ball and gave them time to chase it down. I thought WBA set out to stop us playing and did it very well, they put in an awesome away performance on their own ground. We need teams to come out and play an open game but we also need a plan B when they don't.

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Saxonblue74 added 12:22 - Nov 26 With regard to our defensive frailties I believe we have the answer sitting on our bench Axel Tuanzebe. Talk to any Man Utd fan and they'll agree!
3

Theipswich added 11:06 - Nov 27 Too many games conceding silly goals in the first 5 minutes....very,very poor defending and schoolboy errors
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barrystedmunds added 16:32 - Nov 27 Can we not recognise that WBA are a feckin good, championship savvy, high quality player team?? They know this league inside out and have aspirations of their own for the promised land. We certainly had issues but let’s not forget our squad is still very much the same one as last season and we are a work in progress. I despair at some of the comments on here and other posts following this SECOND defeat of the season!!!!!

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