Birmingham World reporter Charlie Haffenden reacts to West Bromwich Albion's 3-1 defeat to Derby County in the Championship.
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00:00West Bromwich Albion's playoff hopes are pretty much over now, if they weren't already, after a very disappointing 3-1 defeat to Derby County at the Hawthorns.
00:10This is a Derby side that is fighting relegation at the opposite end of the table.
00:14West Brom really should have the quality to beat them with relative ease, especially on home soil, but that wasn't the case.
00:20There was so much fight from the Rams, they got an early goal, they got a second to go 2-0 up, and at that point West Brom, they just looked like they were fading, looked like very little belief.
00:29And Tony Mowbray as well on the touchline just didn't really have any real passion or anything.
00:34You just think that West Brom going into this six points outside the playoffs with three games to go, they have to win all three of their remaining games.
00:42And all of them are against teams that were in the bottom four heading into this one.
00:46As I said, they are fighting for their lives at the opposite end, it's going to be difficult, but West Brom should have the quality.
00:51And to go 2-0 down against a Derby team is pretty unacceptable.
00:55And the manner in which the goals were conceded, even more so, both from corners, the first two.
01:01The first one was just absolutely appalling, as Darnell Furlong on the near post kind of shielded away from the ball, ducked, giving a free header to Derby's captain at the near post.
01:13And Josh Griffiths as well wasn't really able to command his area as well as he would have hoped.
01:18He didn't get across quickly enough to that near post.
01:21If then, as though the header was from quite close range, he wasn't going to do too much.
01:25More Furlong at fall.
01:26And it was Furlong who gave the ball away ahead of the corner as well.
01:29So a pretty poor afternoon for Albion's right back.
01:32The second goal, just as bad, really.
01:34A corner from the opposite side.
01:36Carl Bartley, who's meant to be a bit of a dominator in the box, far from it on this occasion.
01:40The ball kind of drops to his feet.
01:42And Matt Clarke, the Derby defender, was able to edge in front of him.
01:45And Bartley hardly put up a fight, to be honest with you.
01:48He should be the one really pushing on to get to the ball first.
01:51He didn't show any desire, didn't show any anticipation as Clarke flicked the ball around the corner.
01:55And then Furlong, again, letting his marker go.
01:58Poking into the far post to make it 2-0 to Derby.
02:02Unacceptable, really, from West Brom.
02:05Going to half-time with a two-goal deficit.
02:07There's kind of no belief.
02:08There was an opportunity from Elias at Price to hit the top right-hand expansion.
02:12Just flicked off the edge of the post.
02:14And there was a great save as well from Tom Fellows's volley that was saved by the Derby goalkeeper.
02:19But apart from that, there was nothing really to shout about for Albion in that first half.
02:22And the momentum, the newly found momentum just before the break, wasn't continued afterwards.
02:27Tony Mubry turns to the bench around the 60th minute to make four substitutions.
02:32Adam Armstrong was one of those.
02:33And he did make a pretty quick impact, scoring within seven minutes of coming on.
02:37It's a fantastic through ball, in fairness, from Grady D'Angana, who'd been ineffective earlier in the game.
02:42An inch-perfect pass through the eye of a needle.
02:45Armstrong composed, finishing through the legs of the Derby goalkeeper to make it 2-1.
02:49And then there was a great belief here at the Hawthorns that they might be able to get back into the game.
02:53And with Coventry losing, Bristol losing, Middlesbrough losing elsewhere, not sure if the players would have known that.
02:58But if Albion managed to win this game, they would have firmly been in the play-off fight again.
03:02Unfortunately, though, it was Derby who scored the next goal.
03:06A fantastic one as well.
03:07And Nathaniel Mendes-Lang had only been on the pitch for a matter of seconds as he sprinted onto a through pass.
03:13Dinked the ball over Josh Griffiths perfectly.
03:15Controlled it on the way back down.
03:17And then, from a really tight angle, managed to find the bottom corner.
03:20The Derby fans packed out in that away end, going absolutely ballistic.
03:24Chanting that they'd be staying up.
03:26Pretty much all of the teams in the bottom five were able to win today.
03:29So, it might not be a clinching, you know, survival clinching win for Derby, rather.
03:35But still an incredible three points for them.
03:38And for West Brom, a dismal afternoon here at the Hawthorns.
03:42It's now five defeats in the last six games for Tony Mowbray's men.
03:46A lot of people will be asking for the manager to leave now after such a performance and such a run of form.
03:52I think he'll probably argue in the press conference that West Brom deserve to win the game.
03:56But, five defeats in six.
03:58It's not a coincidence, is it, really, at this point.
04:00And the domination that Mowbray speaks of isn't really evident on the pitch.
04:03Even against the teams fighting at the bottom of the table.
04:06So, as it is, it's West Bromwich Albion 1, Derby County 3.
04:10Two games to go now.
04:11It's still mathematically possible to get into playoff positions.
04:14Games against Cardiff and Luton Town, who are in that relegation scrap.
04:17But, it's incredibly unlikely.
04:19And, to be honest with you, I think West Brom's season is well and truly over.