West Bromwich Albion manager Tony Mowbray believes he has the players in his squad who are capable of firing the club into the Premiership and has told them to put the disappointing defeat at Stoke behind them.

The 3-1 defeat was Albion's sixth of the season and meant they were replaced at the top of the table by Watford.

Albion have not won in Stoke since September 1982 and the defeat would have been doubly disappointing for Mowbray as Stoke's physical approach goes against everything that he stands for.

He said: "I thought we played some decent football and I know we have got players who can play at the next level.

"There's a debate in this country about where the good footballers are but I see loads of them in my team. Players who can manipulate the ball, pass it and take care of it.

"We lost today but let's move on to the next game. I enjoyed watching my team for long spells in the second half.

"I love football with a passion and I saw a football team trying to do the right thing.

"Sometimes you have to give credit to the opposition for being good at what they do.

"We are trying to take the club forward and I think we are doing that. The signs are good.

"Defeats are part and parcel of football and it is how you react to them that matters."

Goalkeeper Dean Kiely said he was sure there would be no hangovers from the defeat.

The Ireland international returned after a two-match absence through injury but was helpless with all three Stoke goals.

He said: "All the dangers we knew they would pose came true. We spoke before the game about how hard they worked and in Ricardo Fuller they have a good striker.

"We contributed ourselves to the defeat by gifting them a couple of goals. It is disappointing but we showed in the second half that if we had woken up and not taken half an hour to get going it might have been different.

"The changes at half time made a difference but we like to think we have more about us than to have to launch a second-half comeback. If we had set about the game for 90 minutes in the manner we have during the season it might have been a different result.

"We have to take it on the chin and show it's a blip. There can't be any hangovers and we need to look forward.

"Every team has a blip and the teams who come out on top at the end of the season are the ones who react best to adversity."