Don Goodman sends West Brom play-off warning as Daryl Dike arrives to aid attack | OneFootball

Speaking to OLBG, Don Goodman has said that he feels West Bromwich Albion need to be looking over their shoulder in the play-off race rather than up the league table at the moment, with him suggesting Daryl Dike needs to hit the ground running to aid their efforts in front of goal.

The Baggies are faltering along at the moment with no win in four and in front of goal they have been pretty shot-shy, with just 31 strikes so far in the Championship.

Indeed, it has proven a source of frustration for Baggies fans, especially with the quality they have on the pitch, and the hope will be that Dike – who was excellent for Barnsley last season – can provide similar levels of returns in order for them to seal promotion to the Premier League.

Goodman has suggested that he needs to be on form straight away, too, as there are several sides breathing down their neck at the moment:

“If you look at the table, West Brom are currently one point above seventh-placed Huddersfield Town and Stoke have a game in hand on them

“Coventry aren’t far off, Nottingham Forest have hit form and Sheffield United are picking up results.

“I don’t think West Brom can be looking up, they’re seven points off second and I’d be more worried about looking who’s over my shoulder.

“They have to address this slide they’re on and the huge problem is that they can’t stick the ball in the back of the net.

“They were the top scorers in the first 10 games of the season with 20 goals and in the last 16, they’ve only scored 11.

“That sets alarm bells ringing because they have missed a lot of chances.

“Expected goals isn’t the Bible, but it gives you a rough idea if teams are creating chances which they have been in West Brom’s case.

“They’ve just been missing them and that’s where Dike comes in, he needs to hit the ground running.

“If he can be that striker and converting those chances, then at the very least they’ll secure a playoff spot and they’ll be a handful in that.

“But if they don’t start converting these chances, then they could face the disaster of slipping out of the playoff picture and I don’t think any manager would survive that if you’re West Brom and in the Championship.”

The Verdict

No pressure, Daryl.

Dike had a wonderful season last year in the second half of the campaign for Barnsley and if he can hit that form once more then Albion will be handful for any side.

Goodman is right, the play-off picture is looking pretty tight with a handful of teams just behind the Albion but the Baggies know that they have it in them to at least seal a top six spot.

Doing it, though, is the real challenge.

Quiz: Have each of these 25 ex-West Brom players ever played in the Premier League?

1 of 25

Has former West Brom player Rekeem Harper ever played in the Premier League?