WEST BROM 1 ALBION 0

Graham Potter deserves to be sending out a team with a regular and reliable goal-getter at its sharp end.

Whether it be someone within the ranks finding form or, when the time comes, a solution from elsewhere.

What happens in front of goal is the obvious missing piece to a footballing jigsaw the head coach has been patiently assembling since May, 2019.

Unfortunately, you don’t always get what you deserve.

Especially in times of a year-long global pandemic which has left many people feeling a bit short-changed by life in some aspect or other.

It would be fascinating to see this Albion team with an in-form finisher among them.

It’s maddening to see them play without one.

And bewildering how many points they allow to slip away.

Albion will be conscious that alarm bells are ringing among fans but also aware it is not that long since they were enjoying impressive wins.

The message going out behind the scenes at the club is that calm perspective is crucial right now.

Which is very true. But they should not be in this position.

Defeat this time will be remembered chiefly for a goal which WAS scored and then mysteriously chalked off.

Lewis Dunk’s quickly taken free-kick was disallowed, allowed and finally disallowed by referee Lee Mason.

The referee got it wrong. We all make mistakes and this was a high-profile clanger.

But there were also two penalty misses.

There was a concession from a simple set-piece.

Yet, even with those all setbacks, Albion STILL had enough chances to win this game.

It is an ongoing trend. Opportunities are being created but not taken.

In defeats, like this and versus Crystal Palace.

In draws, such as those at home to Aston Villa and Fulham.

And even in landmark wins over Liverpool and Tottenham, although it did not matter so much then.

It’s two goals in five winless games since the glorious night at Anfield, scored by defenders Lewis Dunk and Joel Veltman.

Potter must go with what he has for now.

Maybe Percy Tau or Andi Zeqiri will be given a shot.

Or maybe they are in that position where your stock rises because you are not involved in a defeat.

Further ahead, if the current malaise continues all season, could the option be to raise funds from a sale or two and reinvest in attack?

Potter has earned that chance too.

By improving players and giving them opportunities, he has increased the value of several prime assets were they to be sold.

He has taken very good care of the initial investments in the playing staff made by Tony Bloom.

Whether that offers room for manoeuvre in terms of both fees and wages for a goal-getter, the hardest player to sign, is unclear.

If you can’t afford the big shot strikers, there are other avenues to pursue.

Working with you have got. Creating more chances.

Moving down a price range and looking to develop one of the leading goal-getters from the division below.

Promoting a prolific marksman from your academy.

Or hoping to see an ex-international recapture former glory.

Longer-term strategies can also be followed and international markets pursued at all age groups.

Albion have done all of the above.

POTTER BELIEVES IN HIS GOALSCORERS

ALBION CONTACT PREM AND PGMOL OVER DISALLOWED GOAL

Short of the big money signing (and that is still not a guarantee of goals) it’s hard to see what more Potter and his staff can do.

And, as must always be remembered, all this comes against a backdrop of record losses and empty stands.

Albion seem to be settled in terms of line-up and formation while the defence has generally been sound.

They are more creative than they were. Sharper in their build-up play.

The football is better than ever.

You hear questions from reporters in our media Zoom sessions and comments on the BBC Radio Sussex fans phone-in about Albion struggling to break down teams who set up in a low block.

Really? Okay, that was true in the first half against Crystal Palace but other than that they have broken such teams down more than often enough to have won games.

Here, two penalties, one open goal and at least two more presentable chances should have been sufficient once Kyle Bartley had headed home a corner on 11 minutes.

Gross blasted his first-half spot kick against the bar after Okay Yokuslu handled.

Danny Welbeck struck the post with a penalty on 75 minutes following a foul on Gross.

Some patient and precise passing football led to that spot kick.

Such approach work late in the first half also led to Aaron Connolly testing Sam Johnstone and Neal Maupay misfiring at the near post.

Maupay forced Johnstone into a second half save and Connolly blasted the rebound over an open goal.

Joel Veltman headed over from a precise Gross cross and no one was where it mattered when Jakub Moder delivered a terrific cross.

You can imagine strikers at some other clubs licking their lips at the thought of that sort of service - at the right price, of course.

The key now is for someone in-house to cash in because they are surely better in front of goal than we are seeing.

It would be the missing piece.

West Bromwich Albion: Johnstone; Furlong, O’Shea, Bartley, Townsend; Yokuslu; Matheus Pereira (Ivanovic 79), Gallagher, Maitland-Niles, Phillips (Diangana 72); Diagne (Robson-Kanu 83). Subs Not Used: Button, Robinson, Livermore, Sawyers, Peltier, Ahearne-Grant.

Goal: Bartley 11.

Albion: Sanchez, Veltman, White (Moder 84), Dunk, Burn; Bissouma, Gross; Trossard, Mac Allister (Lallana 46); Connolly (Welbeck 61), Maupay. Subs Not Used: Steele, Jahanbakhsh, Alzate, Tau, Propper, Zeqiri.

Referee: Lee Mason (Lancashire).