Mowbray unfazed by Baggies defeat at Boro

West Bromwich Albion boss Tony Mowbray is already looking ahead after losing 2-0 on his first game back in management against his first football love, Middlesbrough.

Although Albion dropped to seventh in the Championship, Mowbray is already boldly targeting six points from the Baggies' next two matches.

"We've now got Portsmouth at home on Saturday and then Plymouth away," he told BBC Radio WM.

"If we were to take maximum points from them, we'll be right back up there."

Without injured top scorer Josh Maja, Albion - who have now scored just six goals in their past eight away outings - again looked punchless up front.

"The reality is that we need to score a few goals," he said. "And that is not a new thing. It's about taking responsibility in the final third.

"Maybe it's about confidence. There was one at the end that just needed to someone to be there to put away at the far post.

"The first goal was a bit disappointing. The shot came from 30 yards out and it bounced in front of the keeper.

"Then we got sucker punched by a second goal from outside the box. But it just felt they had a bit more menace than us."

Mowbray also passed up the opportunity to comment on speculation linking Albion with a move for Ipswich Town's 22-year-old Iraq-born, Liverpool-bred winger Ali Al-Hamadi.

"He's an Ipswich player," said Mowbray. "It would be disrespectful to Ipswich to talk about that."