Albion at last passed the 50-point barrier today with a comfortable 1-0 win at Southend.

The only goal of a tame encounter came in the 15th minute when Ashley Barnes scored his third in six appearances and his first as a starter.

On-loan Barnes got a touch to Lee Hendrie's low shot after a nice build-up involving Inigo Calderon.

Albion held that lead to half-time with just one real scare when Jean-Francois Christophe somehow failed to get proper contact on a close-range header.

Southend desperately needed a win in their bid to avoid the drop but offered little in attack.

Their best chance came on 71 minutes after the only error Marcos Painter made on his comeback from a knee injury.

Francis Laurent took the ball from him, clipped it over the advancing Peter Brezovan but saw his shot drift wide of the far post.

Albion were far from at their best but that hardly mattered for their 1,333 fans in a crowd of 8,503 as their side ended a run of four winless games.