West Brom coach prepares for a return to Preston North End

Oct 1 2009 by Chris Lepkowski

West Brom first-team coach Michael Appleton prepares for his first return to Preston North End insisting there is 'no panic' among the club's coaching staff.

The 33-year-old has watched Albion lose their last three games in all competitions following an excellent start to the season.

He believes that Tuesday's defeat to Barnsley, in particular, sums up the nature of the Championship.

"Sometimes when you get off to a fantastic start like we did you can get into a frame of mind where the lads just do the same thing game after game and it works," he said.

"Then, when those things don’t work for a couple of games, it can be a bit of a shock to the system and can take some time to react to it.

"It was a strong reminder of what this division is all about and if any of the players were under the impression that the league would be a stroll then the last couple of games have been a wake-up for everybody at the club, including the coaching staff.

"It just proves that in this league if you don’t have eight or nine players right at it in every game it is going to be very tough to win matches.