West Bromwich Albion will have been left smarting after the way that they lost to Derby County yesterday evening. 

The Baggies fell to defeat against the rock bottom Rams at Pride Park, going down to a solitary strike by Colin Kazim-Richards just short of the hour mark.

A long ball was hoisted forwards by the home side, with both Cedric Kipre and Sam Johnstone failing to deal with the situation adequately, leading to the latter heading the ball straight into the path of the Derby striker who gleefully tucked home into an empty net.

Albion had plenty of chances to get themselves back into the game, but as has been the theme for them in more recent times, they failed to take their chances and left the East Midlands with plenty of disappointment.

Here, we take you through THREE things we clearly learnt about West Brom after their 1-0 loss v Derby...

Striker badly needed 

It is certainly no secret that the Baggies are in the market for a new striker ahead of the opening of the January transfer window.

Aside from Karlan Grant, no one is really hitting the right notes when it comes to goal scoring and as a result Valérien Ismaël will be casting his net wide in search of a new frontman for his side.

Daryl Dike is a name that has been mentioned on more than one occasion and it appears that he is quickly emerging as the club's key target ahead of the new year.

The American certainly won't come cheap, so a loan deal with an option to buy could be the route that Albion choose to go down.

Mowatt a big miss

Alex Mowatt was once again a big miss for the Baggies and they could have certainly done with his drive and determination after going a goal behind.

A free agent signing from Barnsley during the summer, the central midfielder showed what he was all about during the opening stages of the season and was fast appearing to be one of the additions of the summer in the Championship.

However he was absent last night and to a man you could see that West Brom really missed his influence.

It is Mowatt's ability to contribute at both ends of the pitch that makes him so crucial to what Albion are trying to achieve this term.

Have the wheels come off?

Most people would rightly argue that the honeymoon period is now over for Ismaël at the Hawthorns, especially now that his side have slipped down to fourth place.

The Baggies are really struggling to score goals at present and it is clear that it is putting more and more pressure on the shoulders of the Frenchman.

He has a distinctive, direct,  high pressing style that has received its fair share of criticism from the supporters, so he will be hoping that the results will turn again soon.

Make no mistake about it, Albion are visibly limping into January at the time of writing.