West Brom's Jed Wallace: We have to be brave enough to face up to to relegation battle after Norwich nadir
Club captain Jed Wallace said it was time Albion players were brave enough to accept the reality of a relegation battle after the recent Norwich humiliation.
The experienced winger, 31, admitted last week's 5-0 Hawthorns drubbing - the club's heaviest ever home defeat outside the top flight - was one of his worst experiences in football.
He revealed a meeting was held at Albion's training ground the following day where players had to "snap out of it" and "accept" the relegation battle. New boss Eric Ramsay said there were "tough conversations" after the Canaries embarrassment in his second game in charge.
Albion showed a response in a spirited and battling display at Derby to earn a late point last Friday and, after a free midweek this time around, head to lowly rivals Portsmouth for a huge six-pointer at Fratton Park on Saturday.
"I think Norwich at home was a real turning point for me where it was time to wake people up," Wallace told BBC 5 Live's 72+ Daily.
"We had a meeting the day after the game. It was as bad a night as I've ever had in football to be honest and I've played over 500 games.
"It was time for everyone to snap out of it and wake up and realise the situation we are in and being brave enough to accept we are in a relegation battle and we have to stand up to that because West Bromwich Albion should not be where they are in the Championship at the moment.
"Myself and the players are very aware we're the main reason behind that. We can't hide behind managers, we need to improve.
"I believe we have some of the best players in the league but for whatever reason as individuals and as a collective we haven't shown that."
Wallace has been forced to play a watching brief for much of the campaign after a serious calf injury in early October sidelined him for around three months.
He was unavailable until after Ryan Mason's dismissal early in January.
The winger returned in style with goals in the FA Cup penalty shootout defeat and the 3-2 defeat against Middlesbrough in Ramsay's first game at the helm.
Wallace, who is out of contract this summer, insists the Baggies must first and foremost focus on the basics.
He added: "Football is football. We need to keep clean sheets, stop making individual errors and build confidence from that.
"Against Derby it was a spirited performance in terms of the basics, first and second contacts, this is the Championship. In the most respectful way possible I've not seen loads of good teams in the Championship this year.
"But I have seen teams who are very good at the basics and you can certainly see that in the play-off picture in terms of Millwall and Hull, they are fantastic at the basics and that's why they are where they are. That's something we have to build on."