Roy Hodgson admits Manchester City’s 4-0 demolition of Albion hurt his own and his side’s pride.
The defeat was Albion’s heaviest during Hodgson’s reign at the Baggies after a Sergio Aguero brace and goals from Carlos Tevez and David Silva saw City reemerge as title contenders.
Hodgson made five changes to the side which beat Blackburn, but could not fault the effort his players gave on a tiring night at the Etihad Stadium.
"I can't criticise the players because they kept going," said Hodgson.
"We came here with dreams and hopes of being able to dent Man City and put a blemish on their home record - but we weren't able to do so.
"They were the better team and won deservedly and convincingly.
"All the big guns were out there tonight and for people like Billy Jones and Craig Dawson, who are fairly new to the Premier League, it's a tough ask to play against this quality of player.
"Nicky Shorey hasn't played for three or four weeks so it was always going to be a tough ask.
"I'm disappointed to lose it by such a big margin because during my time at West Brom, we haven't had many heavy defeats.
"We've never had more than a 3-0, so that's a major blow to my pride and the team's pride.
"But the bottom line is tonight we didn't have the wherewithal to hurt Man City and they had plenty in their armoury to hurt us."
"I thought we did quite well after conceding the early goal to keep ourselves in the game, keep reasonably well organised, and keep them in front of us to limit their chances.
"But our worst fears were realised when they got those two quick goals at the start of the second half.
"At 3-0, really and truly, it's staring down the barrel of a gun.
"They were playing so well and so confidently there was no way we were going to get back in the game.
"Then, of course, the danger is you're going to get routed by even more goals than the four we conceded.
"Two of the goals were the result of mistakes technically, where we gave the ball away in the middle of the park and got hit on the counter-attack.
"That's a little bit disappointing.
"But I'd also say, arguably, Manchester City were at least three goals better than us.
"I suppose how you concede the goals is of lesser consequence.
"The thing tonight is we weren't good enough to take anything from the game.
"We can only congratulate Man City on their fine performance and lament the fact we didn't play as well as we'd hoped, and lick our wounds."
Do you think Albion will bounce back against QPR on Saturday? Have your say here at Baggies Banter.