NIGEL Clough says a 12-minute spell in the second half was to blame for a frustrating 3-0 defeat at in-form Blackpool.
After a tight first period with few chances, Albion never recovered from going behind within 30 seconds of the restart.
Clough said: “We are a little bit bewildered after being so tight in the first half. After playing so well against Coventry and not conceding, for it to come tumbling down in 12 minutes, and the first one in less than 30 seconds into second half, is extremely poor. We gave it away on the halfway line and then, all of a sudden, they are through unchallenged.
“We had a bad 12 minutes today – not 90 – and we were punished in that time. Those 12 minutes defined the game. There was nothing in it apart from that.
“Brad has conceded three goals but has only one other save to make. But that spell killed the game for us. That happens in football sometimes but there has to be a better reaction to the first one. If you do concede then you have to say you have 44 minutes to get back into it and you have to make sure you don’t concede another. And the second has come from our free kick and they have broken away and it’s very, very difficult from there.
“That’s as disappointing as anything as we are telling the players that once they have conceded if you have time in the game you don’t have to go looking for an equaliser straight away. If you can brilliant, but the main priority is not to concede that second goal.
“We looked like we would get going at a few points today but it never quite happened. We had a lot of possession again and enough situations to get a goal, but we heavily contributed to the goals we conceded with bad defending."