Steven Alzate is confident Albion can turn around their fortunes and surpass their record Premier League tally of 41 points.
Four consecutive defeats has put a halt to their momentum, but the midfielder says every team has a sticky patch over the course of the campaign.
“When it’s not going your way in football it feels like nothing will fall for you. We’ve got a good group and despite a few losses we’ve still got high spirits in the dressing room,” he said.
“Every team will have a tough period and we’re going through ours now, so we need to stay strong and keep believing. We will start getting points again soon.
“Every season you want to demonstrate progress and we showed some of our best form at the start of the season – we need to rediscover that. Before the season people outside the club said we should be happy with staying in the league, then after five games they thought we’d be challenging for Europe.
“In the dressing room we’ve always been realistic. We’re confident we can beat that points tally of 41 with 11 games still to play.”
Late goals have been a theme of the season so far, although Alzate insists it’s not part of their game strategy.
“We have come from behind to get points quite a few times and now we’re losing in those positions, which is not nice. But we never go into a game thinking ‘we’re going to concede first and try to equalise’. We look to control the game from the off and get in front, but it doesn’t always go that way.
“Even if we get to half time in games with the score at 0-0, it’s a good position. We have to make the most of our opportunities, because we make a lot of chances but don’t always put them away.”
The 23-year-old was praised by Graham Potter as Albion’s best player at St James’ Park last Saturday and the Colombian international wants to build on that strong display.
“I feel like whenever I get an opportunity I take it but I can only do my bit and perform. It’s the manager’s call whether or not I’m in the team but I was happy to hear those words on Saturday.”