West Bromwich Albion slumped to yet another defeat yesterday, as they played out a 1-0 loss against Preston North End.

Aside from it being their eighth game without a win, it marked yet another result where they looked decidedly toothless.

The Lilywhites were hardly in scintillating form going into this one, having won once in their last nine. However, they finished the night 11 places above the Baggies, who have finally slipped into the relegation zone.

Brandon Thomas-Asante had been given the nod by Steve Bruce for the last couple of games, earned through his goal-scoring heroics in his first two appearances, but at Deepdale, he returned Karlan Grant to the lineup in the hopes that his hiatus might now spark him into action.

However, what it produced was arguably one of his worst performances of the season and one that could well now cost Bruce his job with the manager under increasing pressure in the Albion dugout. 

The striker offered very little presence up front, outlined in his limited 33 touches and 13 passes - 3 fewer than goalkeeper Alex Palmer. However, when he was involved, it was often to squander precious opportunities for his side.

To have so few touches, despite West Brom boasting 66% of the possession, marks just how much of a passenger he was during the match.

Although Jayson Molumby had a similarly poor game in midfield, with a 6.7 SofaScore rating, he is incomparable with Grant, who whimpered to a miserable 6.2 rating, the joint-worst of the night.

This was more than earned too, as not only was he so uninvolved, but he also managed to miss one big chance and record just a 68% pass accuracy. This culminated in possession being lost 13 times by the 25-year-old.

Not only was his offensive display worthless, but he showed little sign of fight and desire that might make some look back more favourably upon performances of this ilk.

Of the six duels he was a part of, he managed to win just one, marking an 83% loss rate. He did not manage one single tackle, clearance or interception, and was even dribbled past once.

This outlines an all-around disappointing display, on a night where Bruce will have felt quietly confident his side might have been able to snatch an elusive victory.

Instead, the pressure mounts on his position as he was once again let down by his striker of choice.