Jake Livermore admits West Brom are facing up to the prospect of relegation from the Premier League, despite an upturn in form and confidence.
The England international scored his side's first goal as they fought back from 2-0 down to claim a 2-2 draw at home to Liverpool on Saturday.
Darren Moore's side are eight points from safety with three games to go, and will be relegated on Sunday if Swansea City manage a shock win away to champions Manchester City.
With their fate all but sealed, despite them having taken four points off Manchester United and Liverpool in the last week, Livermore concedes the players are despondent.
"It's a shame, really," he told Sky Sports. "We've started to gain that belief and confidence. All we can do is keep fighting for each other, the fans and staff.
"We can agree it's not for the want of trying but the rub of the green hasn't quite happened, when last season maybe it did.
"If any of us knew what has gone wrong, we'd have changed it 10 games ago. We've thrown away points from leading positions and it seems to have gone that way this season."
Interim boss Moore paid tribute to the club and its supporters after another hugely creditable result, just a week after their 1-0 win over United at Old Trafford.
"Another good result because we as a football club have come together," he said. "By us being together, it's brought another positive result.
"I think everybody would agree the atmosphere in here has been superb. The staff, in terms of their preparation, certainly that's gone onto the players.
"I want to say, together, we've earned that result."
