West Bromwich Albion manager Tony Mowbray is still targeting a top-two finish in this season's Championship, despite a fortnight that has seen them surrender 11 points out of a possible 12, writes Graham Winbury.
The Baggies still have a hold of the last play-off position after a second successive defeat but they have now slipped seven points behind second-placed Preston North End and ten adrift of leaders Cardiff City.
All Mowbray can do is hope that his team's luck changes. "My aim is still to finish in the top two," he said. "There's only 17 games gone and we've still got 87 points to play for. And I'm still very, very confident that this group of players, playing the way we are, will finish at the right end of the table with enough points to take us out of this league.
"But we're on a run at the moment in which we can't get the ball in the back of the net and a team that hits the woodwork six times has got to count itself unfortunate not to win.
"With a bit more fortune, we could have won comfortably. In fact, we've had enough chances to win the last four games comfortably but this result is hard to take."
It summed up Albion's luck that, on top of the six times they tested their own woodwork, it should have been Rob Earnshaw who scored Norwich City's streaky second-half winner.
In becoming the third former Baggie to score against his old club this season, he was following in Ricky Scimeca and Geoff Horsfield. But he was the first to net the winner, a goal that cost Albion their unbeaten home record. Although this great showman performed one of his familiar somersault celebrations, it was a goal sportingly well received on all sides of the ground.
"It was a great feeling," said Earnshaw. "It was great to play here again and I wanted to come and enjoy myself but, most of all, you want to score against your old clubs."
