Manager Nigel Pearson bemoaned Bristol City’s frustrating habit of conceding late goals after Adam Reach grabbed a stoppage-time equaliser to earn West Brom a 2-2 draw at Ashton Gate.
The substitute volleyed home with almost the last kick of the game, having only been on the pitch for a couple of minutes, to earn the visitors a point after they had twice been behind.
Nahki Wells, an early replacement for the injured Antoine Semenyo, fired City in front from Andreas Weimann’s 29th-minute cross.
Karlan Grant levelled with a 68th-minute penalty after goalkeeper Dan Bentley was adjudged to have fouled Kyle Bartley but Weimann looked to have won it with a thumping 85th-minute volley.
However, it was déjà vu for Pearson, who has seen his side squander numerous points this season by failing to see out games when in front.
He said: “It was the same old story. The fans must be as sick of hearing me talk about late goals as they are of seeing them conceded.
“We had the ball 10 yards from their corner flag in the dying moments and then made a mess of a throw-in.
“You can’t make decisions for players and some poor ones have cost us again. I have an honest group of players but we can’t go on making the same mistakes.
“We have a problem with consistency. After being so poor at Barnsley in midweek, we have looked solid in this game and our goalkeeper has not had much to do.
“I have no issue with the penalty, having seen it again, although I felt we should have had one ourselves in the second half.
“All credit to Andi Weimann, who is a manager’s delight. When we have a player on 18 goals and are where we are in the league, it doesn’t take a genius to work out what the problems are.
“Today we have been pretty good at the back, yet still conceded twice. There is a lot of work to be done on our defending as a team.”
Albion boss Steve Bruce admitted the outcome was a blow to his club’s chances of getting involved in the play-offs.
He said: “We are reaching the stage when we have to win games to achieve our objective, so I am disappointed.
“Our first-half display was nowhere near good enough. The second half was much better but one thing we have to sort out is that we are up one minute and down the next.
“After beating Fulham, I expected better. Conditions were difficult, with a swirling wind and a pitch that rugby had been played on the night before.
“It looked like it. But we can’t use those things as excuses. We conceded two very poor goals.
“I’m delighted for Adam Reach that he got his goal because he is a great professional but we can’t be relying on scoring in stoppage time to get a point.
“I think we deserved something for our second-half display and we looked the only side likely to win until conceding the second goal.
“But that was a really bad one from our point of view, even though it was a very good finish.
“Of course there is still hope of winning promotion but games are running out and draws are not good enough in our position.”
