Albion have reached the international break standing eighth in the Premier League.

They have also found their feet in the Europa League, from about minute 40 of their second match.

But it could have been better – and they should have regained sixth place by beating Sheffield United.

We asked four long-time fans for their thoughts on the 1-1 draw with Blades.

Then we looked ahead and checked the mood in terms of what the coming weeks will hold.

What were your thoughts on Albion’s performance against Sheffield United?

Tim Ayling: It was one-way traffic for 70 minutes, but there was a sense of inevitability about what was to happen. We can't even say we missed a hatful of chances. While we controlled those 70 minutes, the creativity wasn't there apart from a wonderful goal.

Colin Beales: Again we dominated and created chances, but at half-time the talk was all around us needing a second to avoid being pulled into a draw situation. Unfortunately, another VAR mess up not giving us a clear penalty and a silly challenge for the red then changed the game with Sheffield having their own clear chance put wide to have taken all the points. De Zerbi sees this though was great to hear him state post-match that we need to kill off games when we dominate.

Alan Brownings: Dominated possession up until the red card, but guilty of not converting our chances, and seemingly fell asleep in the build up to the own goal.

James Heasman: I felt this was a frustrating performance. Sheffield United were very poor, and after the way we started, I did feel we would win comfortably. Unfortunately, it does feel like we need a second goal at the moment, and our finishing was disappointing. Dahoud was clearly struggling during the previous five minutes prior to the sending off, and I was surprised de Zerbi didn't withdraw him when the ball went out for a goal kick prior to the incident.

Who stood out for you from the Albion team?

Tim Ayling: Adingra was excellent and terrified the full-back in the first half. It was a poor move to switch his wings. Gilmour controlled the midfield, but there must be a law that prevents him playing 90 minutes.

Colin Beales: I thought defensively, Van Hecke had a decent game, but I think probably the man of the match was the goal scorer Adingra who had a decent game particularly when on the left side rather than the right when Mitoma came on.

Alan Brownings: Van Hecke and Simon Adingra are improving massively and becoming standout players. You can already see that Van Hecke is being milder as the next Lewis Dunk and Adingra I believe is as good and important to us as Mitoma.

James Heasman: Fati started well but missed a couple of chances and his movement is a different class, Dahoud had a good first half as did Billy Gilmour, but I think I would give it to Pascal Gross, who slotted into another position and gave a top performance.

Are you confident Albion can improve Prem results and maintain Euro progress after the international break ?

Tim Ayling: We have a lot of injuries and the Premier League is tough. I'm more confident of progressing in Europe than I am of big improvements in the Premier League. I get the need for rotation, but some players seem immune to it. Anyone can see that Gross needs a rest for example, but he plays the full game every match.

Colin Beales: We have to put into perspective the injury list we have across the squad right now is terribly unfortunate. When we build back our squad to fitness, I'm confident we'll get back some winning form. The problem is how long will the injury list stay so large and if so is the answer to bring in more during the window which Tony Bloom tends not to like doing.

Alan Brownings: We picked up massively after Christmas last year to achieve our sixth-place finish, I have a suspicion the same could thing happen.

James Heasman: I am. We're not a million miles away from hammering an opponent, it's just poor decision making and poor finishing that is the issue. The injuries aren't helping, and hopefully a few will return.