Slaven Bilic: West Bromwich Albion must face promotion pressure and become 'real men or near men'

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Slaven Bilic dejected by late Huddersfield winnerImage source, PA Media
Image caption,

West Brom boss Slaven Bilic (left) bowed his head and put his hands on his knees after Emile Smith Rowe struck a late winner for Huddersfield

Boss Slaven Bilic has said his West Brom side must show whether they are "real men or near men" after Friday's defeat by Huddersfield put their Championship promotion bid in jeopardy.

With Leeds promoted by that loss, Albion will see Brentford move up into second if they beat Stoke on Saturday.

The Baggies must now win at home to QPR on Wednesday and hope the Bees - a point behind them in third - slip up.

"We have two options, feel sorry or take our second chance," Bilic said.

He told BBC Radio WM: "Now it is up to us to show if we are real men or near men.

"We have to do it, it's not because we're not professionals. We have to react in a proper way and see what it brings."

Bilic's side were a goal down inside four minutes at Huddersfield thanks to Chris Willock's strike and despite levelling before half-time through Dara O'Shea, struggled to create chances after the break.

Emile Smith Rowe then slotted home the Terriers' winner with four minutes to play to consign the Baggies to a seventh league loss of the campaign.

"We played bad, we were nowhere near good enough," the former Croatia boss added. "I didn't see this coming.

"I know about the pressure [of battling for promotion] but not for us to be this flat and basically not in the game for the majority.

"We were simply not good enough throughout the whole game."

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