Kayden Jackson netted his third goal of the season five minutes from time but the bottom-of-the-table Blues fell to a 2-1 home defeat to West Bromwich Albion, who climb to second. Jay Rodriguez gave the visitors the lead on 26, Harvey Barnes doubled the margin in the 77th minute before sub Jackson made the most of a Tosin Adarabioyo error to pull a goal back for Town, who almost claimed what earlier had seemed an unlikely point when another sub Jack Lankester hit the post with a freekick deep in injury time.

Paul Lambert named an unchanged for the third game running, while Teddy Bishop was on the bench for the first time since August having been out of action with a hamstring injury, his only appearance this season having been 24 minutes from the bench at Exeter in the Carabao Cup.

West Brom, who were also unchanged having beaten Leeds 4-1 before the international break, were skippered by former Town loanee Jake Livermore.

The visitors created the first opportunity of the game in the fourth minute, James Morrison heading a corner from the right back into the area and Rodriguez nodding over.

West Brom had most of the ball in the early stages with Town, backed by a noisy 22,000-strong crowd, harrying and hassling them.

On 11 Matthew Pennington was booked for pulling back Hal Robson-Kanu and Cole Skuse diverted Livermore’s dangerous freekick up into the air and Trevoh Chalobah cleared.

Town struck their first shot of the game in the 13th minute, Jonas Knudsen hitting a powerful effort which flew only just over Sam Johnstone’s bar.

The Baggies broke quickly in the 16th minute after a Town attack had broken down and Harvey Barnes shot across the face of goal, not too far wide of Bartosz Bialkowski’s right post.

West Brom will feel they should have opened the scoring in the 23rd minute. A freekick was nodded back towards the six-yard box from the back post and Jordan Roberts did superbly to hook it away. However, the loose ball dropped to Ahmed Hegazi but fortunately for Town the Egyptian screwed horribly wide when he should have hit the target at the very least.

But the Baggies didn’t have to wait too much longer for a goal. On 26 Matt Phillips’s cross from the right beat Jordan Spence at the back post and Kieran Gibbs headed to the edge of the six-yard box where Rodriguez nipped in front of Pennington to slot home.

The visitors continued to control the game with the Blues unable to make much headway going forward, all too often running into trouble, making a loose pass or failing to get the ball into the box when the opportunity was there. On 40 Robson-Kanu worked himself space inside the box but shot over.

Just before the break, Spence slid in to block from Rodriguez who otherwise looked certain to score having been found by Barnes after another swift Baggies break. In the aftermath, the ball was played into the feet of Robson-Kanu, who tried to roll Pennington but the on-loan Everton man diverted his shot over.

After one minute of additional time referee Keith Stroud brought the half to an end with the Baggies deservedly in front.

The visitors, with a squad still packed with players from their Premier League days, had bossed the period from the the off with the Blues largely huffing and puffing as they tried to get a foothold in the game.

Knudsen’s shot not too far over was the closest Town had come to a goal, while the Blues’ backline had done well to limit the number of clear-cut chances at the other end.

West Brom will have gone in feeling another goal in the second half ought seal their first win at Portman Road since 2006 with Town needing to improve after the break if they were to take anything from the match.

The Blues started the second half positively and in the 49th minute Flynn Downes sent Roberts away towards goal but Hegazi, who had been a strong presence at the back for the visitors throughout, blocked his way.

From the corner the Blues threatened again, Gibbs stopping Roberts’s shot in front of the line.

Moments later, Downes’s corner from the left bounced across the six-yard box but with no one of either team able to get a touch on it. The ball ran out to Chalobah, who struck a shot straight at Johnstone.

The Blues, appearing to have much more self-belief than before the break when they had perhaps shown the visitors too much respect, continued to press and probe and in the 52nd minute Pennington shot wide from 25 yards after a freekick had been taken quickly on the left.

Despite Town’s strong start to the second half, West Brom went very close to doubling their lead in the 56th minute.

Phillips sent over a superb ball from the right to Barnes breaking into the area on the left from where the on-loan Leicester man smashed a shot against the outside of Bialkowski’s right post.

But the Blues were continuing to take the game to the West Midlanders and a minute later Chalobah brought the ball to the edge of the box before hitting a shot wide.

In the 64th minute boss Lambert withdrew Downes for Bishop, who received a warm ovation from the Portman Road crowd as he made his way on to the field. The 22-year-old’s last league appearance came in the home game against QPR on Boxing Day last year.

The visitors started to look the more threatening side, Rodriguez shooting over on 66, then two minutes later Phillips won a corner on the right from which the ball almost ended up crossing the line, however, with Bialkowski having been fouled as he punched.

A minute later, Robson-Kanu hit a shot from the edge of the box which Bialkowski claimed confidently before the threat moved to the other end.

First Sears was just prevented from getting in a header from Knudsen’s cross from the left, then Edwards nodded Roberts’s cross over the bar.

Rodriguez looked certain to grab his second of the game in the 72nd minute having been put through one on one inside the area but Spence slid in superbly to take the ball away from him.

However, a second Baggies goal came only four minutes later. Bishop and Edwards got in a tangle on the edge of the West Brom box and the visitors broke at pace and Phillips found Barnes in space on the right of the box from where he slammed home.

Town immediately swapped Edwards and Roberts for Jackson and Lankester, however, any realistic hope of getting anything from the game appeared to have gone, despite their spirited second-half display.

Lankester ambitiously claimed a penalty as the match moved into its final 10 minutes, falling along with a West Brom defender as they battled to get to a ball into the box.

Jackson shot wide having cut in from the left in the 82nd minute, then soon after Phillips was booked for time-wasting.

With five minutes left on the clock the Blues were handed a lifeline. Lankester’s cross from the right deflected into the area where Tosin Adarabioyo inadvertently diverted it behind him and into the path of Jackson, who gratefully slipped home his third goal of the season.

The home crowd, which had stayed behind their team throughout, suddenly sensed an unlikely point might be on the cards and upped the noise.

Town kept pushing for an equaliser in injury time, winning a number of corners, but with the Baggies always looking a bigger danger on the counter-attack, as they had all evening.

Deep, deep in injury time, Bishop won a freekick not far outside the area on the right and Lankester curled a brilliant shot which grazed the outside of Johnstone’s right post. The keeper was booked for wasting time ahead of the goalkick, seconds before the final whistle blew.

Despite the defeat, the home crowd applauded their side after a much better second half display which might even have yielded a point had Lankester’s strike been six inches or so to the left or the ball fallen more kindly in the area from one of a number of earlier set pieces.

Town will certainly face far weaker opposition than the Baggies this season and although having suffered Lambert’s first defeat as Town boss, there were plenty of positives to be taken from the second-half performance, not least Bishop’s return to senior action.

The Blues will hope that results elsewhere go in their favour tomorrow before they again go looking for their first home win of the season and inaugural victory under Lambert when Bristol City visit Portman Road on Wednesday.

Town: Bialkowski, Sears, Chambers (c), Pennington, Knudsen, Skuse, Chalobah, Downes (Bishop 64), Edwards (Lankester 77), Sears, Roberts (Jackson 78). Unused: Gerken, Donacien, Ward, Dozzell.

West Brom: Johnstone, Adarabioyo, Dawson, Hegazi, Gibbs, Livermore (c), Morrison (Barry 89), Phillips, Barnes, Robson-Kanu (Gayle 75), Rodriguez. Unused: Myhill, Mears, Townsend, Hoolahan, Harper. Referee: Keith Stroud (Hampshire). Att 22,995 (West Brom: 1,073).

Photo: TWTD

TimmyH added 22:54 - Nov 23 West Bromwich are not a Premiership team otherwise they would have not been relegated, yes they have some quality players no doubt but you can't use 'well we played a Premier quality team' excuse post match - they've already lost to the might of Hull, Bolton and Wigan - food for thought...
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marcus1642 added 22:54 - Nov 23 Total lack of quality all to evident right across the whole Town team. WBA were solid and that's all they had to be.
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dubblue added 22:54 - Nov 23 Clearly a gulf in class. we need to strengthen our attack in January. Even in the 2nd half when we enjoyed more of the ball the Baggies always looked more likely to score. Still home we can survive but its going to be a long long season.
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Daleyitfc added 22:57 - Nov 23 Any chance we had of getting back in the game was wrecked when we brought Bishop on : a clueless unfit little boy who just got in the way and gifted them their second goal. Most players were, as always, poor or very poor ; Bialkowski needs to put up or shut up, as he's been awful ; as was Spence.
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Bert added 23:00 - Nov 23 Not a performance to win a game against an organised outfit but enough in the second half to build on. Spence both bad and good, passes from midfield going astray, Bart didn't get down on his near post again, Skuse splayed it around, Chambers and Pennington decent enough, Sears and Roberts running into good places but no end product. So much better than a month ago but we have to claw the points back by the new year to stand a chance of staying up. Can Lambert do it with some additions ? It may just be possible because the mojo is back after the debacle of clueless Hurst.

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RobsonWark added 23:00 - Nov 23 I've said it time and time again...we will never get anywhere with super skipper Chambers at the back. Let him be a champion for the club but he is not a footballer. What is the point of him asking for the ball from Bart on the six yard line? PL talked about pressing forward but most times when Chambers received the ball he passes backwards. And can someone please tell me what Milne does for the club? He is a total waste of space.

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runningout added 23:02 - Nov 23 I'm still full of optimism for some reason...
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PSGBlue added 23:06 - Nov 23 There maybe signs of improvement, but in reality it's only in attitude and effort, unfortunately the quality simply isn't good enough in our squad. More so than up front, led by Sears and Jackson, both not ten goals a season material. PJ is the right the man for the job, but the damage has already been done. We are all waiting in anticipation for the transfer window to open, but who of any worth will really want to come to us? Yes, MM may have kept us in this league. Although this was not a guarantee. It was only two seasons ago we survived with a game or so left. Also where would we have been without the four wins at the start of last season. For all the ‘MM inners' the club was already on a slippery slope long before PH arrived. Relegation is 70% on the cards. But Just judging by PJ first three weeks, I have enough faith in him getting us out of League One and to exceed anything MM could have achieved thereafter!

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Chondzoresk added 23:07 - Nov 23 Great atmosphere. Disappointing result. But I really take heart from certain areas. P.L. so animated, giving encouragement and berating players too. Keep it up all. I know some will complain, but I am not. COYB!!!👍🍻
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RegencyBlue added 23:15 - Nov 23 WBA were a class apart and once again we had no real goal threat. Lambert is doing his best but anyone would struggle to make a worthwhile side with what he has been left to work with. Hate to say it but we look doomed!
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Cakeman added 23:17 - Nov 23 Excellent effort but obviously with evidence that is not enough for us to progress. The quality just does not match the effort. The major plus is the arrival of Paul Lambert and staff who have united the fans with the club. Good job we have him as the future will be bright with him at the helm irrespective of which division we find ourselves in next season. Serious rebuild of players needed but that will take more than just the January deadline.

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Northstandveteran added 23:32 - Nov 23 Really admiring the way Lambert is sticking to tradition. West Brom's second goal was classic Ipswich. Turning a corner into a goal for the opposition in under 10 seconds. Never has there been a team that that can turn a dangerous attacking position into defence the way town have consistently over the years.
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midastouch added 23:32 - Nov 23 Didn't really expect us to get much tonight and so it proved. Roberts wasn't as good as he had been in his 2 previous games. With Jackson coming off the bench and scoring, as well as getting 3 goals in the behind closed doors friendly against QPR, maybe he's worth giving the nod next time. Sears didn't really pose much threat tonight either although it certainly wasn't through lack of trying. Would love to see us shuffle the pack and try something different up top, I wouldn't even mind Folami or Lankester getting a start or at least longer from the bench. And while I'm happy with the enthusiasm and positive vibe Lambert has been doing his utmost to spread around the club, I was a bit surprised he went for Bishop ahead of Dozzell from the bench although certainly nice to see Bishop back but I do worry that we might not ever see him recapture the early form that had the likes of Arsenal and Man Utd watching him. Seems long ago now. The fixture list wasn't that kind to us tonight. The next match really is a must win though, we need another win on the board badly Wednesday night against Bristol City. Hard to be harsh on Lambert as he's got such a mess to try and clear up following Hurst's erratic squad overhaul and it's unrealistic to expect him to wave a magic wand and transform us from bottom of the league no hopers into contenders. It's going to take time and sadly by the time we find our feet under Lambert it might already be too late. Let's hope we do the business Wednesday night as a win then is essential! It's not over to the fat lady sings but I'm preparing myself for the worst! I pray Norwich don't go up this season as that would really add insult to injury! Apparently Ed Ballbag admitted at their AGM they are in a big financial hole as well now so if they don't get promoted this season they would need to make some tough decisions in the years ahead which could be very detrimental to their playing squad and future prospects. If they don't hit the bullseye with promotion this season then they might not get another chance for a long long time again! Really hoping a certain Celina does the business tomorrow if not it could be another very painful weekend on the football front all round! Anyway, down but still not out, Wednesday could be the springboard for better times but if we don't win very soon then it's going to take a herculean effort from Lambert and his team to save us from the trapdoor.

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Notts_tractor added 23:37 - Nov 23 Bluearmy 81 I logged in specially just to vote up your comment. I can't believe how tolerant we are of the man who is destroying our club. We're all talking about 'togetherness', but we had that before he bowled up and set about wrecking it with his 'corporate' approach to club ownership. Just because he's not in the mould of the usual owner -villain a la Oystons etc doesn't make him good. I just wish he would sod off. I actually quite liked David Sheepshanks.

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BlueJohn added 23:42 - Nov 23 Who was the stupid announcer at tonight's match. Absolute rubbish. Someone should tell him he doesn't need to shout when he has a microphone. Get rid of him and bring back Rob Chandler.
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shakytown added 23:52 - Nov 23 Time for a new 5 point plan. We are nothing short of a league 2 team and not a single player in the squad would be good enough for any other team in this league. 10 million in January is not even going to be close to what we need player wise to survive. Time to front up Evans with some serious cash or we are doomed to non league football in the near future.
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Somersetractor added 00:25 - Nov 24 Great atmosphere tonight. A side run on spirit but dubious quality. Spirit being a fragile thing. Good night night despite result UTT!
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Steve_ITFC_Sweden added 00:40 - Nov 24 No doubt West Brom were the best side tonight, but I'm proud of ”our boys.” They gave everything, and we came very close in the end. PL is doing a remarkable job and deserves our support.
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StowTractorBoy added 00:53 - Nov 24 A decent performance tonight but for me still several negatives. Two of them being that Bart is not the goalkeeper he once was and Spence is in my opinion very poor. Sadly relegation is now a real possibility and I say that as we have played the likes of Rotherham, Hull, Millwall and Reading four of the worst teams in the league and we have gained just one point from those fixtures. I accept this is not the fault of Paul Lambert as the last regime have left us in a dreadful mess. We do not have a natural target man or prolific goal scorer at present and a defence that leaks far too many goals. After Saturdays fixtures we could well be 8 points adrift of safety and could get worse by January. If we can stay 5 or less points behind the pack at the end of December then we have a chance to survive providing Evans gives Lambert the cash required in the transfer window. The biggest plus tonight was the terrific atmosphere generated at the ground which the Club should be proud of.

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Podster added 02:04 - Nov 24 I do agree that we looked shaky at the back tonight and we're desperate for a proven goal scorer. Freddie, whose work rate is amazing, was probably 4th choice last year and now seems to be first forward on the team sheet. But, in fairness to the forwards, the first half just happened around our midfield. Nobody trying to get hold of the game and nothing for the front men to feed off until the subs came on, who went looking for the ball and made a difference. I'm not sure Chalobah was mom for me - did nothing in the first half, but a marked improvement in the second. As most have said, we need some good January dealing, but I'm with others on the worry of who we could attract. PH and team's miss-management have given P.L. an almost impossible job, but I've been really impressed with him so far and truly believe he can take us forward with some backing. Brilliant atmosphere tonight.

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jas0999 added 06:42 - Nov 24 Although there were positives, this is still yet another defeat. Worrying times as we could be eight points from safety tonight. That would be a tough ask. With seven games until January, you'd have thought we need to win at least three to stand a chance. There are some winnable games, but we've only won once all season. West Brom we're miles the better side and deserved the win. The gulf in quality first half, really rammed home the dreadful transfer business carried out by the previous manager in the summer. Sanctioned by the owner. Lankester looks a top player. Onwards and upwards. Not all over after this defeat, but results needed in the next seven.

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cat added 08:01 - Nov 24 Decent second half performance and nice to see Jackson get one. Credit to WBA for pressing us and exposing our weakness - keeping hold of the ball and playing football. Whether that's down to the man at the top with our gradual 10 year decline, his bad choice of managers or 5 years of playing anti football under the Dino remains to be seen, but we have lost our footballing identity. Personally I'd like to see more of the youths given an opportunity, get a few loans back and give them some championship experience cause the reality is the senior pros simply ain't good enough. The big positive is we have Lambert, if anyone can safe us it's him, but with the current crop it's gonna be a big ask.

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martin587 added 08:30 - Nov 24 I feel most of us are missing the point here.PL inherited these players from the worst manager we have ever had,so until January he has to do the best he can with the squad he has. What is the point in knocking the team.We all know it's poor so we have to live with it. Ok,the first half was poor,the second half saw a vast improvement and this has been installed by the manager. Remember this squad had Know direction,passion and were clueless before PL arrived.I personally can see a vast improvement in attitude and commitment.we need time and yes this is something we don't have but we will get out of this mess,I'm sure.Patience is a virtue,so they say.

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ThaiBlue added 08:49 - Nov 24 Better effort lately and under Lambert we are going in the right direction.if we can stay close to the teams above us come January think Lambert will get a few new faces through the door.think Bart, Chambers, Spence need to be dropped or given a kick up the backside not good enough.as I said b4 I think we will stay up under Lambert just give him time as still only finding his feet.

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Swn98 added 09:20 - Nov 24 Yet another match where so much endeavour resulted in nothing because in to many departments we lack basic skills. Barts distribution is woeful and far to pedestrian constantly putting the defence on the back foot. The defence has for many seasons been inept at defending set pieces, conceding goal after goal. Midfield has improved although distribution still slow and one dimensional. Forwards, no real target man Freddie works his socks off if quality balls aren't being supplied from midfield how can he create anything. On to many occasions we go from a position of attack to conceding a goal in the blink of an eye. I am afraid we are in a downward spiral bar a miracle. If we do get relegated it will only get worse Evans will cut the budget to suite the division Season ticket sales will decline keeping us uncompetitive. Finally on the point of season tickets i note lots of people commenting on the cut price tickets this can only be done because of the sky money if we get relegated and lose the sky money the cash from season ticket sales will be much needed i for one will not be renewing the club have my money for the whole season in august and the person sitting next to me never seen him in my life gets in for £10.00 less than me. Been a loyal fan for over 45 years to many things over the past few years have slowly extinguished my love for Portman Rd.

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