Darren Moore admits West Brom need to evolve quickly

The Baggies were dealt a spoonful of their own medicine at The Hawthorns today by a determined Bolton Wanderers team who soaked up pressure and stung them with balls into the box.

Albion had nearly three-quarters of possession and 20 shots, but struggled to create many gilt-edged chances and only three of those efforts were on target.

It took a wonderstrike from debutant Harvey Barnes to draw them level on the stroke of half-time after Josh Magennis had headed the visitors into the lead in the 18th minute.

And then two minutes from time, the Wanderers snatched a late winner through Yanic Wildschut's effort from a corner that brought back painful memories of last season.

Moore was disappointed with the goals Albion conceded, but said the Baggies had to develop their attacking patterns quickly.

"Teams will potentially come up here and do that," he said. "Take nothing away from Bolton, you won't ever hear me complain about that because as a football club, we built our success on that.

"The very best in the top flight has come here and not been able to break us down, so it's a difficult one to do.

"When teams come here and play that system it's difficult, we've got to find ways of breaking them down.

"I look at the game, the possession was there, our quality was there, but it's about getting the know-how right.

"It's very difficult when you have a team unit like that getting men behind the ball.

"The disappointing thing for us is the set play, you're never happy to concede from set plays.

"In general we dominated the game but that doesn't mean anything when you look at the scoreline.

"There are positives to pick out of it, but we don't get much time because with in 24 hours we've got to plan and prepare for another game and this is what this division is all about."

Albion were threatening down the wings with Matt Phillips and goalscorer Barnes but there was a severe lack of central creativity.

The home fans started calling for James Morrison to come on, but Moore sent on winger Oliver Burke as his only substitute.

When he was asked if there was any reason Morrison didn't come on, Moore said: "James Morrison is in the squad and ready to go.

"As and when we'll use Mozza, I'm delighted to have him back. With this long season ahead of us you'll see James Morrison I'm sure."

Albion's vulnerability to crosses was evident, and it disappointed Moore, a former centre-back himself.

"We've got to do better than that because it's part of the game," he said. "West Brom have been very strong over the years at scoring set plays.

"Credit to Bolton to coming up here and executing a game plan against us.

"It's really important that we find ways in the future of breaking that down and being more effective."

Having stayed up by the skin of their teeth last season, Bolton's victory was a huge scalp for them, and Moore was asked if he expected more teams to play at The Hawthorns in that manner.

"I'm not sure, it's one way they can come here," he said. "Teams may play open football and take the game to us.

"This division is about horses for courses it really is. There are a lot of bumps and turns to come. Any team can beat any team on the day.

"We've seen that today and Bolton were very disciplined as a unit.

"We got into positions, the stats point to themselves, the possession and attempts at goal, but we need to work on the finer details once we're in those positions."

One positive was Barnes's gorgeous debut goal that flew into the top corner.

"We're delighted to have Harvey on board," added Moore. "He's a quality and intelligent player with wonderful technical ability, you've certainly seen that today.

"He had a wonderful game and a good performance, hopefully we'll see more of that in the coming months ahead."