In response to Andy Naylor’s report of the Albion’s defeat at Derby (Sport, January 20), it has been blatantly obvious for some considerable time that we need a clinical and hardened edge to complement our approach work.

We need to strengthen our depleted squad to gain anything this season.

It is imperative that if Tony Bloom and Paul Barber are serious about making Albion “Premier League ready” they need to start backing their manager, and fast, to bring in the quality of players we need not only to replace the undervalued Ashley Barnes and Adam El-Abd we’ve lost but also to make the right noises in order to retain the likes of class players such as Liam Bridcutt.

We will need them to obtain the Premier League status the club’s loyal supporters so richly deserve.

Mr D Newland, Clarke Avenue, Hove