West Brom will be relegated to League One if they don’t solve this issue ASAP | OneFootball

West Brom's issues regarding seeing out games continued in midweek against Southampton

West Brom's wait for a first Championship win of 2026 continued on Wednesday night, as they were pegged back late against Southampton.

Cyle Larin's goal in second-half stoppage time ensured that Tonda Eckert's side's unbeaten run continued and that they made some ground on Wrexham in sixth, who were beaten by Hull City the day before.

However, the Baggies are now winless in 13 Championship games, a run which has spanned three managers and has resulted in James Morrison's side falling into the bottom three after wins elsewhere from Oxford United and Leicester City.

With nine games left, despite slight improvements in the last two outings under James Morrison, the threat of relegation has never been this high, and with their two immediate relegation rivals looking to hit form at the right time, these improvements need to be translated into results.

And if the results are going to come, West Brom simply need to see out games and hold onto situations where they are leading, or at least drawing, heading into the final stages to earn those points.

West Brom are one of the worst teams in the final 15 minutes of games in the Championship this season

There have been plenty of frustrating aspects of West Brom's season so far, both on and off the field.

The diabolical away record in 2025 under Ryan Mason, being one of three teams this season to not breach the Sheffield Wednesday backline in a goalless draw in November, and the decisions off the field that have led to their situation on it have all been causes for grumbles at the Hawthorns.

However, above all that, one issue that has seemed to follow West Brom, no matter who has been in the dugout, has been their inability to see out games in the final 15 minutes.

Wednesday night was the seventh instance this season where the Baggies have been leading or drawing games going into the 75th minute, but ended up leaving the field worse off, whether that be letting the opposition equalise late or score a late winner.

They've now lost 10 points in the final 15 minutes of games, and while this is a far-from-ideal stat, it's not the worst aspect of it.

Both Wrexham and Leicester have let more points slip through their grasp right at the death, but they balance it out by picking up points late on, too, whereas West Brom hardly even does that. Their 1-1 draw with Sheffield United last weekend was only the third time this season that the Baggies have battled back to take points late on.

Over the course of the campaign so far, James Morrison's side has lost six points from the 75th minute onwards, a feat matched only by Norwich City and Sheffield Wednesday, and worsened by no other side.

West Brom need to finish games better to remain in the Championship

When taking into account the fact that this doesn't even count the 3-2 defeat against Middlesbrough in Eric Ramsay's first game in charge (as West Brom were already behind going into the final 15 minutes), the Baggies' post-75-minute stats are likely even worse than initially outlined.

Not only do West Brom need to work harder to keep their points, but if they are going to go into the latter stages of games behind or level, they need to show more of what they did at Bramall Lane last weekend to battle back and take points themselves.

As the run-in intensifies, sides down near the bottom often find little bursts of form that we have yet to see this season to pull away from danger. Oxford are going through that now, and Leicester have threatened it with their midweek win at Bristol City.

West Brom need to get out of this slump they are in before those ahead of them start to pull away, and being the side who can get a boost late on, rather than one that lets points slip, will go a long way to making that happen.

Then, and only then, will they be in a position to retain their Championship status for next season.