EIGHTH place. Not bad. Give or take a place or two (upwards) that's where I reckon we should be finishing with the immense talent at our disposal.

Having said that I thought the result last night was better than the performance. We started off showing the newly-promoted Baggies too much respect with a 4-5-1 formation.

And, despite near 70 per cent possession in the first half, until the slightly fortunate penalty decision in the second, we didn't really look like breaking the stalemate.

The situation changed after the opening goal.

Yorke and Cole showed some exquisite touches up front, and the 'telepathic understanding' showed signs of re-emerging.

Cole's part in the second goal was particularly impressive.

Minor quibbles aside, at the end of the night it was seven points out of the last nine and in my view the best thing about the season has been the vast improvement in away form.

Last season an outrageous smash and grab job at Southampton approaching the festive period was our first away victory.

This season we've opened with seven points out of twelve on our travels and really it should have been four straight wins.

Conversely, with our array of attacking talent I had been expecting us to roll everyone over comfortably at home and that hasn't happened as yet.

If we can carry on in the same vein on our travels we'll be fine. If we can click into top gear at home as well the potential of this team is more or less unlimited.

This is where I feel both Souey and the team do themselves a slight disservice from time to time.

Man for man I feel we are in a different class from most of our opponents but often we don't prove it on the pitch in terms of the result.

A top five or six position should be well within the capability of the team.

One thing which has held us back in my view over the

last couple of seasons has been a slight lack of belief in our own ability from management and team alike.

We should be capable of going out most of the time and taking the game by the scruff of the neck.

Judging by this season's away form we are starting to get there, but need to carry this unshakeable self-belief into every game.

All of this leads onto Thursday night's second leg against CSKA Sofia.

The noises coming from the club have been that this competition is a very poor second or even third priority, Premiership survival being the main priority.

While it is true that no club can afford to be relegated in the current climate I feel we have evolved past the mere 'survival' stage and that we can afford to give Thursday night a right good go with a full strength side without serious long term consequences.

We are also in the relatively early stages of re-establishing ourselves following our unnecessary two-year absence from the Premiership.

A good run in Europe will be invaluable in attracting top quality players and keeping the even better ones currently on the books.

And the fans spending a small fortune and taking days off work travelling to Sofia deserve nothing less than a fully committed 'backs to the wall' performance from the strongest possible side.