West Brom v Leicester preview: Boss calls on his side to make the early running in games

Mason's men dominated their previous home game, the 1-0 defeat to Derby, before succumbing to a late smash-and-grab. The Baggies even had more shots than hosts Middlesbrough in the north east last Friday night but were beaten 2-1.

The head coach has made the point that Albion can be better in their final pass or decisive touch to increase the quality of chances.

But he also stressed that both fixtures would likely have played out very differently had Albion taken their key moments earlier in the game to move to the contest away from the opponents.

"We've had some really big moments in games and goals can dictate how games go," Mason said. "Against Derby we created some really good openings. We didn't take those opportunities.

"The first goal against Derby, for example, I'm pretty sure if we're 1-0 up then we create different chances against a more open shape. So the game looks different and chance creation looks different.

"Same against Boro, it was quite tight. I think they probably created one or two openings before their goal. We had one from a set play in terms of Nat (Phillips).

"And then when a team is 1-0 up, sometimes the spaces - you have to do a little bit more to earn those. Having said that, we've still had some really good moments. (Isaac) Price has his header. I think Oussie (Diakite) had a really good opportunity.

"There were moment. Football is about moments, about taking moments at the right time. Hopefully we can do that on Friday."

Visitors Leicester, now under ex-QPR chief Marti Cifuentes, were relegated from the Premier League last term and are fourth having opened up with three wins from six.

Albion have not had a prolific start to the campaign but the Championship season is just six games old as the head coach and his new squad continue to get to grips with things. The early weeks of the season showed a Baggies side once again built on a strong defensive foundations - having rebuilt the entire backline over the summer.

Mason continues to integrate several of his nine summer recruits into the fold. One of the late signings, deadline loan recruit Sammy Iling-Junior from Villa, has played just 15 minutes so far and the winger was an unused substitute at Middlesbrough.

Asked about Iling-Junior's settling in period, Mason explained how such changes can be tougher on young players, particularly compared to experienced senior pros.

"I think that's a challenge and everyone's at different stages of their career," the head coach said. "I look at Mepps (Chris Mepham), for example, someone who's 27 and it's a lot easier to go and fit into something.

"Whereas Sammy's a 21-year-old. He's still relatively premature in his football career.

"It can work both ways. We just want to help him and help all of them as quickly as possible, help them understand what we want and what we want it to look like. He's someone that we hope can affect games of football for us."