Trailing 1-0 at Wrexham with 15 minutes left, then 2-0 down inside 12 minutes at home to Blackburn four days later. Both times West Bromwich Albion came back to win. The pattern is no longer a surprise; it has become the Baggies' calling card this Championship season.

The numbers that define a season

West Brom lead the entire Championship with 10 points taken from games in which they conceded the opening goal. No side in the division has won more games after falling behind; the Baggies have done it three times. That figure alone marks a seismic shift from last term, when Albion collected just eight points across all 21 games in which they conceded first, losing 17 of them. They have already surpassed that miserable total with the season still unfolding.

The goals are coming late, too. Albion have scored six times in the final 20 minutes of matches this season. Only two clubs above them in the table have managed more. Those late strikes are not flukes; they are the product of a squad built to stay sharp across 90 minutes, not just the opening exchanges.

How Morrison's rotation is fuelling the fight-backs

Manager James Morrison has made a deliberate point of spreading minutes across his forward options. In the three league games since the international break, every one of his strikers has started at least once and appeared from the bench at least once. The result is a group of attackers who arrive in the final quarter fresh rather than leg-weary.

At Wrexham it was substitutions and tactical tweaks in the last quarter-hour that flipped a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 win, Isaac Price and Aune Heggebo finding the net. Against Blackburn, the Baggies overturned a two-goal deficit at The Hawthorns to win 3-2, the belief inside the ground never appearing to waver even when the situation looked bleak.

The contrast with the approach of Morrison's predecessor at the start of last season is pointed. Relying repeatedly on the same players and starving back-up forwards of meaningful minutes left the squad brittle when momentum turned against them. Morrison's version keeps the whole group competitive, alert and invested.

The problem Morrison still needs to solve

Resilience is an asset. Needing it so frequently is not. West Brom have conceded the first goal in seven league games this season; only one club in the division has conceded first more often. The run of letting in the opening goal has stretched to five consecutive matches, a sequence that places repeated stress on a squad that so far has the character to absorb it.

Morrison acknowledged the tension himself after the Blackburn win. "I don't like the chaos," he said. "I want to be in control of the game." That admission frames the challenge neatly: the squad's powers of recovery are genuinely impressive, but the goal is to make those powers unnecessary.

For now, though, Albion's supporters can take a particular satisfaction from knowing that a deficit is no longer a signal to prepare for defeat. When the team falls behind, the question has shifted from "how much will we lose by?" to "how long do we need?" That is a different kind of football club from the one that capitulated so readily last term, and Morrison deserves credit for the change in mentality his management has produced.

Frequently asked

How many points have West Brom taken after conceding first this season?
West Brom lead the Championship with 10 points from games in which they conceded the opening goal, and they have won three such matches outright, more than any other side in the division.
How does West Brom's comeback record this season compare to last season?
Last season Albion took just eight points across 21 games in which they conceded first, losing 17 of them. This season they have already beaten that points total and have shown far greater resilience when falling behind.
Why has James Morrison's rotation policy made a difference at West Brom?
By rotating his squad and ensuring all his forward options get regular minutes, Morrison has kept players fresh and ready to impact games from the bench, which has contributed directly to several late comeback wins this season.