Albion under-21 head coach Shannon Ruth wants his players to learn from the 3-0 home defeat by Reading in their penultimate game of the PL2 regular season on Saturday.
With a bright sun and a strong wind at their backs, the visitors took an early 2-0 lead before Albion got to grips with the conditions.
And although Ruth's side got back into the game and went close through Louis Flower and Ruairi McConville, Reading broke away to make it 3-0 at the interval.
“It’s always a tough ask at the training ground when the wind is up,” Ruth said. “Fair play to Reading. They made the conditions work for them and caused us a fair few problems.”
Frustratingly, the wind had died down somewhat after the break, but Albion still dominated. However, despite good efforts from Flower, who might have had a second-half hat-trick, McConville and Luca Barrington, they could not find a way through.
“With the number of chances we created and the opportunities we had on their goal, we are disappointed to come away without scoring,” Ruth added.
“Their three attempts all resulted in goals and they were all they had throughout the game. Whereas the stats show that we had eight very good chances.
“But we are also disappointed from a defensive perspective. For all the possession that you can have and all the chances that you can create, first and foremost you have to look after your own goal and aim for a clean sheet.
“That is not always in the forefront of our players’ mind, because we are so obsessed with the ball that sometimes we can leave ourselves vulnerable. So it was a good lesson for us.”
The team dropped to tenth place in the PL2 table and may have to win its final game, away to Wolves, to guarantee a top-12 finish that means entry into the play-offs and next season’s Premier League International Cup. “We are hopeful,” Ruth said.