MARTIN Paterson says the Brewers are now in a “dogfight” and need to win games quickly.
Albion lost the Staffordshire derby 1-0 with Port Vale scoring the only goal of a tight game in the 83rd minute leaving a gap of only three points between the Brewers and the relegation zone.
The Albion manager said: “The table doesn’t lie and what I will say is that at the moment we are missing so many opportunities and I can’t stress enough to the players the magnitude of what is going on. The group mustn’t just think we will be OK – we need to get the results and put the performances in.
“It was always going to be a tight game today with a sloppy goal deciding it and we have come out of it at the wrong end again. It’s not good enough and it leaves us in a real dogfight.
“We need to realise that the teams in the bottom quarter of the table will start winning games and we need to continue to get points on the board. We have had good performances and positives and I have stressed that positivity but now, especially at home we need performances and the worrying thing for me is that they looked like they wanted it more in all facets today. Running, tackling, second contacts, the dirty side of the game, I thought they shaded us.
“We need to show the group that isn’t good enough. Every second ball, every set piece we had we ended up receiving a shot on our goal so there’s a little bit of organisation to be done as staff and we take that on the chin but ultimately, it’s very unlike us to say that a team out fought and out ran us.”
The Brewers again failed to convert chances and the lack of goals is a major concern for the manager.
He said: “It’s always a concern when you don’t score goals and you have to find different routes, different ideas. We are not blessed with a team that scores goals when your top scorer is on five and the top goal scoring striker is on three. We have to find ways to get goals and set pieces are massive.
“I said last week this was a must win game and certainly a not lose game, and that’s not good enough today and it puts us right in the dogfight.”
The Brewers saw the return of Mason Bennett and Sam Hughes from injury but lost Antwoine Hackford and Ademola Ola-Adebomi.
Paterson said: “Antwoine has been sick and missed four days of training and Mola pulled out of training yesterday with a hamstring. These are things that are happening, not excuses but the facts are we get two back and lose two.”
The Brewers now go to Wigan on Good Friday and face Barnsley at home on Easter Monday.
Paterson said: “We are in it now. We are in a dogfight and we need points and as a staff we need to look at what we can do better. Things are not working for us at the moment, that’s for sure.”
