Carlos Corberan was left frustrated by his West Brom side’s inability to finish their chances in the 3-1 midlands derby defeat to Birmingham City and said his side need to be better going forward.

The boss was clearly annoyed at the decision to award Birmingham a penalty, which seemed to surprise everyone around St Andrew’s and allowed the Blues to level the scoring.

West Brom went on to have the better of the play in the second half, even after going 2-1 down but failed to create any real chances beyond an effort from Darnell Furlong, who completely missed the target from just six yards out.

Speaking to the Express and Star on 9 October, the boss shared his frustrations from the result: “I feel upset and difficult to manage the frustration that happened and maybe we would have lost anyway (if not for the penalty), maybe we lose another way and talk about a different game, but we need to talk about us.

“Still after this (penalty) action we have the opportunity, a clear chance with the finish of Furlong, it’s true we need to be better in the attacking box, it’s something we can work on.

“We can work in the attacking half managing the ball because we didn’t manage it well enough in the first half. I cannot tell you many things we should’ve done better.”

Struggling to deal with a depleted squad

While the 4-0 victory away at Deepdale was a fantastic result for the Baggies, it appears to have simply papered over the cracks when it comes to the glaring weaknesses in this squad, with the lack of a goalscoring threat becoming an issue in the absence of Josh Maja and Daryl Dike.

Brandon Thomas-Asante, the main recognised number nine in Corberan’s squad, was left on the bench again in favour of Jed Wallace after the latter’s performance against Preston, but the change was not as effective this time around.

Thomas-Asante – who did start the win over Sheffield Wednesday following the Preston rout – is in his own dry spell in front of goal, however, having not scored since the 4-2 victory over Middlesbrough on 26 August, which will be an additional concern for the Baggies.

Corberan’s demands were clear, his side must improve in front of goal. He will be hoping the international break gives him time to establish some confidence in attack while providing some much-needed time as injured players approach their return.