West Brom v Coventry City: Impossible to play down three-game run as week kicks off with stern leaders test

The biggest game is always the next one and that is the case for head coach Eric Ramsay, who cannot let his winless start at the helm extend much beyond its current seven matches.

But it is difficult to ignore Tuesday night's home clash against Charlton and then an even more ominous-looking trip to Oxford on Saturday.

Those are contests against direct lowly rivals and Albion simply have to respond and show some teeth in this relegation scrap.

Only Bilkul chief and Baggies owner Shilen Patel will know how he views Ramsay's status and the helm but it is clear he is under pressure following the winless stint.

Extending a run of no victories too far beyond seven in the intense heat of a Championship relegation dogfight at The Hawthorns makes his role feel untenable.

Supporters will expect little from a face-off with leaders Coventry - albeit Saturday's hosts cannot afford to roll over and be humbled - but it is a run of games where Ramsay has to pick up a victory to ease scrutiny and pressure on his position.

Two league stalemates prior to the FA Cup exit showed a glimmer of progress with consecutive clean sheets that have been painfully absent.

Squad players, the likes of Charlie Taylor, Ousmane Diakite and Jed Wallace have been required of late.

Speaking of back-up options stepping forward, Ramsay said: "(It's) Huge and disappointing that Meps' (Chris Mepham) night ended as it ended, because I think that was a performance where you would have reflected on as him having taken a step forward.

"It was big for Charlie, and obviously we need depth in competition and we need to be able to look at the bench and feel like we can change games, we need to feel like we can flex and be adaptable and performances like that really help you in that sense."

Ramsay could also require the 'youthful fearlessness' of impressive Villa loanee Jamaldeen Jimoh-Aloba against Frank Lampard's leaders. The 18-year-old has been vibrant in his two Baggies starts so far.

The head coach said of young players: "The probably constraining factor at the moment with the young players is the situation, my situation, our situation, in trying to make sure that we extract every drop from the senior players, but also where there is an element of fearlessness of youth that we've talked about.

"You've seen that a little bit with JJ. He takes a ball in any situation, irrespective of the level of pressure. He wants the ball at all points and sometimes that's the first thing to go in a situation where there's a lot of pressure and the crowd's ready to turn or there's some real difficulty.

"So I think the fact that he's been able to do what he's done probably points towards the importance of players that are baggage and weight and pressure free. I think if we can create a broadened sense of that across three or four players, that would really help us."