And defender says side need to make the most of Anelka
GARETH McAuley has called on his team-mates to kick-start their Barclays Premier League campaign at Everton on Saturday (ko 3pm).
Albion suffered a dramatic 1-0 defeat by Southampton at the weekend – with Rickie Lambert netting a last-minute penalty.
And the 32-year-old centre-half insists Steve Clarke's men must quickly move on and bounce back at Goodison Park.
“We’re hurting at the moment,” said McAuley.
“The feeling in the dressing room is one of disappointment.
“We let ourselves down.
“In the first half we were sluggish in our performance.
“We seemed a little bit tired in the way we played – but at this stage of the season it shouldn’t be like that.
“It’s never nice to lose a game, but to lose one to a penalty in the 90th minute is even worse.
“But you’ve got to take your medicine from it and move on.
“We need to get some points on the board as quickly as possible.
“Hopefully we can do that on Saturday.
“We need to do more as a team going forward, create more chances and be better than we were against Southampton.
“The margins are so tiny when you start to look outside the top-four teams so we need to get a result and get momentum going like we did last year, and ride the crest of the wave.”
The Northern Ireland international also admits Albion need to provide Nicolas Anelka with better service if they are to get the most out of the former Real Madrid striker.
“He has been all over Europe and played in lots of different teams, leagues and styles of play,” added McAuley.
“So I think he will probably adapt to us.
“But we need to get the ball to him a lot better, a lot quicker and in the right areas of the pitch, so he can do damage for us.”