'Mistake, after mistake, after mistake on the road'

Baggies fans travelled to Swansea on New Year's Day in the hope that 2026 would see Albion resolve the away-day blues which dogged them for so much of 2025.

However, the 90 minutes in South Wales were more of the same in so many ways.

Much as they did in their final away day of 2025 at Hull, Albion had the better of the chances but ended up on the wrong side of a 1-0 scoreline.

That was The Throstles' ninth consecutive away defeat and their 10th overall for the season.

To put the latter stat into perspective, despite only having played 56% of their total away games, the Baggies have already lost two more than they did in the whole of last season.

They have also lost the same number of away games in just over half a season as last season's bottom club, Cardiff, lost in all of 2024-25.

It's a startlingly bad record, so it's fair to assume Albion are turning in feeble performances on the road, right? Well, actually, no!

Albion haven't lost the xG battle in any of their last three away games, which shows they are creating more than their opponents in many games.

Of course, xG isn't an exact science, but it gives us a guide as to how a team should be performing and across this run of nine defeats, the data suggests Albion should have scored 10 goals. In reality, they've scored just six.

So being profligate in front of goal is a problem for Mason's men, but it's at the other end where Albion have really been shooting themselves in the foot.

The Baggies have made mistake, after mistake, after mistake to gift opposition teams goals on the road.

Albion have not drawn a single game away from home all season, and much of this has to do with the volume of gift-wrapped goals they consistently served up to opposing sides.

The Baggies conceded goals against Ipswich, QPR, Southampton and Swansea from losing possession in their own final third.

Goals against Charlton and another against QPR were down to poor handling from the goalkeeper, while discipline played a big part in the defeats by Coventry and Hull, with a red card in both games and an unnecessary penalty conceded in the latter.

Christmas may be over, but Albion have been dishing out presents for months.

The positive is, if Mason can find the root cause of the complacency that is decimating his team's away form and stamp it out, then there's enough in the performances to believe this tide can turn.

But, at present, new year, new Albion feels a long way off.

Listen to more from Chris Hall at the Albion Analysis, external