Mowbray searching for winning form

Tony Mowbray has stated his desire to regain a winning mentality at The Hawthorns after a run of one victory in five games signalled the end of the Baggies' stay at the summit of the Championship. Tuesday's stalemate against Sheffield United saw Albion drop out of the automatic promotion places for the first time since November and fall to fourth place in the division.

Albion now face Championship rivals Coventry at The Ricoh Arena on Saturday (KO 3pm) with Mowbray hoping the FA Cup fifth-round tie will be the start of a winning run which not only propels the Baggies into the quarter-finals but also back into the automatic places.

Noted as one of the most attractive sides in England, the Albion boss is urging his team to get back to basics and resort to winning 'ugly' in order to kick-start the season after a stuttering sequence of results.

"Winning is what it's all about and the confidence that brings," Mowbray stated.

"It gets you used to a winning habit.

"We've been through stages this year where we've not played well and won.

"We'll accept that now.

"We get publicity that we are a good footballing team and do play a passing game.

"Yet at the same time there are occasions when you can't play your football but still need to win.

"We'll take a few of those between now and the end of the season without changing our philosophies and still wanting to be a team that plays in a certain style and tries to score goals.

"The cup is about getting through to the next round.

"The worst case scenario would be a replay but let's go to the Ricoh Arena, put out our strongest team, try and get to the next round and not worry about what impact it will have down the line."

Although Albion's exit from the FA Cup this time last season against Middlesborough after a penalty shoot-out at The Hawthorns seemed to hinder the promotion push Mowbray is confident his team can continue their efforts on both fronts without any adverse effects this campaign.

"I'm fully aware last season the cup had an impact on our league performances," Mowbray continued.

"People don't understand how mentally draining losing a penalty shoot-out after extra-time can be.

"Psychologically, it can be very tough.

"After the Boro defeat, we played Sunderland and it was a mentally draining game which was must-win at the time and we didn't get the result."

"After 46 league games, the team at the top deserves to be there.

"At this moment we still have a chance to be that team - but then so do eight or nine other teams.

"We have to put a consistent run together and we're capable of doing that.

"Our form at the end of last season clearly wasn't good enough.

"But this year we're confident of doing considerably better than that."