West Brom defender calls for calm amid Baggies panic ahead of Leeds United clash

West Bromwich Albion defender Semi Ajayi has called on the Baggies to bounce back against Leeds United following a second defeat of the campaign.

Slaven Bilic saw his side fall to a shock 2-0 loss to Middlesbrough on Sunday in the Championship which saw the Whites leapfrog their New Year's Day counterparts after Marcelo Bielsa's sides thrilling win over Birmingham City.

Both teams sit on 51 points from 25 games at the top of the table with Leeds ahead on goal difference alone ahead of the clash at the Hawthorns.

Ajayi, though, has asked for calm in the Baggies ranks ahead of a big fixture in the Midlands to kick of 2020.

“We’re bitterly disappointed with the Middlesbrough result, it’s not what we set out to do,” Ajayi said.

“The fact we haven’t managed to get anything from the game or perform to the standards that we know we can leave the boys disappointed.

“Fortunately for us, we have a chance to put that right in a couple of days. We need to dust ourselves down and move on to the Leeds game.

“We need to make sure we don’t overreact, the Middlesbrough game was obviously a bad result but at the end of the day it’s only our second loss of the whole season.

“We need to take heart from that and make sure it doesn’t happen again. We need to come to the Leeds game with an attitude to put it right.

“Let’s get back to winning ways and there’s no better time to start than on New Year’s Day.

“This is not a time to panic, it’s a time to regroup and come back fighting. I’m sure this group is capable of doing that.”