West Brom players have been told 'home truths' as alarming slide is addressed

Matt Clarke admits that ‘home truths’ have been told in the West Brom dressing room in recent weeks, building up to the win at Hull City which will hopefully prove that they’ve turned a corner.

Clarke was colossal at the back in an improved if not spectacular display at the MKM Stadium against an admittedly poor Tigers outfit, but that’s followed a dramatic slide down the table which has left Albion - immediately, at least - out of the play-off picture.

Such is the state of the division that a win against second placed Huddersfield Town tonight would bump them up a few places and back into the top half, at least before Saturday’s Championship fixtures, but Clarke is fully aware that the Baggies’ standards have slipped in recent months.

Their form has dropped off a cliff and there remains a long way back if they’re force themselves back into the promotion reckoning - they’ll have to finish the season as strongly as they began it - but the loanee from Brighton is optimistic that the only way is up and that the squad under Steve Bruce have ironed out their issues.

“When you look at the table at the moment, it’s so frustrating to see ourselves so far down. That hurts and we want to be towards the top end of it - for the majority of the season, we have been,” Clarke said.

“So to have dropped to where we have isn’t ideal or nice, but the points gap isn’t as big as maybe the table would suggest. We know we have to play a lot better to bridge that gap.

“We’re not stupid and we’ve got what we’ve deserved during previous games because we haven’t been good enough. Bring it on - what have we got to lose now?

“We’ve deserved to drop down and our level of performance hasn’t been there in recent months. We’ve needed some harsh words