Albion boss Sami Hyypia has absolved Darren Bent from any blame for the sudden struggle for goals.

Hyypia says the former England striker is suffering from lacklustre service from his team-mates.

Bent, on loan from Aston Villa for the rest of the year, heads back to the West Midlands tomorrow for Albion’s visit to Wolves seeking his first goal in three games.

He drew a blank at Derby, where a header was narrowly chalked off for offside, and in last Friday’s damaging home defeat by Millwall after scoring on his debut against former club Fulham.

That is Albion’s only goal in a sequence of three defeats after finding the net seven times in the previous four games.

Hyypia told The Argus: “I think when the ball has come into the box he has good movement, he is strong and he can score goals.

“We need to make sure that the delivery is correct and it comes early enough that he is not making his move and then we cut back one more time and then the ball comes when he is standing still.

“If we have a chance to cross I bet that Darren is on the move in the box. But then when we cut back it’s very difficult to find a good position to score after that so we need to make sure that we put the ball in the box.

“In the last game (Millwall) he had a few situations where he made a great run and when the ball comes with one touch he has a chance to score but the ball wasn't coming. We need to pay attention to that.

“In the first half, for example, he had a few good runs where he got in front of the defender and we just didn't put the ball there.”

Albion are still expected to be without Sam Baldock (thigh) at Molineux but Spanish striker Adrian Colunga is in contention for his first away appearance for a month after returning from suspension as a late substitute against Millwall.