West Brom must turn draws into wins – Romaine Sawyers

The Baggies head into Sunday’s clash with Huddersfield as the only unbeaten side in the Championship. But they have only won three of their seven league games so far, with the other four matches all ending in draws.

A major reason for that is Albion’s unwanted habit of conceding the first goal. Slaven Bilic’s side has already come from behind on six occasions this season.

And Sawyers admits they need to start striking the first blow.

“It’s nice to be unbeaten but we want to turn draws into wins,” the midfielder said.

“Away from home we need to keep picking up points.

“And then if we make our home ground a fortress we will be alright.

“Once we start taking the lead, We will be a lot more comfortable.

“We are a big club in this league and once we get ahead in games teams will be like ‘wow’.

“But we have got to earn the right to do that.”

Meanwhile, Appleton is understood to be the front runner for the manager’s job at Lincoln just a month after he agreed to take charge of Albion’s under-23 side.

Earlier this week, the Baggies announced they had completed a re-structure of the club’s academy by bringing in Richard Stevens from Coventry.

Stevens will arrive in October as academy manager, replacing Mark Harrison who joined Villa in June.

But it now seems as though that re-structure may not be complete with Appleton understood to be the leading candidate to land the managers job at Sincil Bank.

The Imps are on the lookout for a new manager after Danny Cowley left to take charge of Huddersfield.

And it is understood Appleton, who has previously managed Portsmouth and Blackburn, has held talks with City’s officials.

Lincoln are believed to want to make an appointment before their game against Oxford on Saturday, another of Appleton’s former sides.

And previously, the 43-year-old has expressed a desire to return to management.

Speaking last year, he said: “Things obviously change quickly in football, but my aspirations have always been the same.

“I want to get as high as I possibly can.

“As a player, my opportunity to do that was cut short (by a knee injury). But, as a manager, I’ve got plenty of time.”