Steve Bruce: Top six now a long shot for West Brom
Manager Steve Bruce admitted it's going to be difficult for Albion to now finish inside the top six after they were beaten by Swansea.
The Baggies' season has imploded with the team having now lost seven of their last nine games.
Goals from Joel Piroe and Cyrus Christie saw Swansea secure a deserved win at The Hawthorns last night.
That has left the Baggies sitting 13th in the Championship - eight points behind sixth-placed Luton.
And Bruce admits it's now unlikely his team will secure a play-off finish.
"It's going to be very, very, difficult now I have to say," Bruce said when asked if he believes Albion can still finish in the top six.
"We needed to win tonight and get ourselves something on Saturday (at Hull).
"It's going to be a long and difficult challenge.
"We're never going to give up on it.
"You never know. But it's going to take some turnaround. We will try our utmost. But it's a bit of a long shot I have to say."
When Bruce replaced Valerien Ismael at the start of February, the team were fifth in the Championship - with the manager and CEO Ron Gourlay saying they still believed they could compete for automatic promotion.
But the boss said the players haven't performed anywhere near the levels they are capable of - with the squad suffering from a huge lack of confidence.
"The entire evening was difficult - you could see players severely lacking confidence and we have to try and turn that around if we possibly can," Bruce said when asked about his team's display against Swansea.
"It's alright having names on paper and saying we've got a good squad of players - we have got to perform on the pitch to earn that right and at the moment we're not."
Albion's dismal display was resulted in fans chanting 'you're not fit to wear the shirt' at the players.
Asked if he can understand the fan's frustrations, Bruce said: "People work hard and pay for their tickets.
"With this club there is an expectation - they demand the club should be at the top end of the Championship.
"They have been in the Premier League for the last 13 years out of 20.
"With that comes an expectation and you have certainly got to handle it better than we are."
