Kevin Phillips makes key criticism of West Brom ahead of Millwall clash

Former West Bromwich Albion forward Kevin Phillips has accused his old side of not looking enough of a threat going forward, delivering this criticism as he spoke to West Brom News.

The Baggies have been toothless in front of goal at times this season and have scored just 34 goals in 28 league matches – an astonishingly low total considering they scored four against both Sheffield United and Cardiff City earlier on in the season.

This lack of quality in the final third has been a major source of frustration for large stages of the 2021/22 campaign under Valerien Ismael – and that came to the fore once again following their 2-0 home loss against Preston North End in midweek.

This extended their poor run of recent form, winning just one of their previous seven competitive matches and excluding the 3-0 victory over Peterborough United, they have scored just twice in those other six matches.

Even against Darren Ferguson’s men, it took until the 78th minute for Albion to make their much-needed breakthrough, though tensions have continued to rise following a string of poor offensive displays.

One man who believes things need to change is ex-West Brom striker Kevin Phillips, who stressed the importance of getting fans back onside.

He said: “Although at times they keep the ball well, they just don’t look like a threat going forward.

“At the minute, they just haven’t got that consistency. You hear from the reaction, the crowd was half empty before the full-time whistle went [v Preston].

“Things are not well in the camp, in terms of Ismael, he knows he’s under pressure, that’s the nature of the game – It’s testing times for them.

“For Preston to come to The Hawthorns and win 2-0, it’s unacceptable and they’re going to have to do