Tony Mowbray admitted he could not fault his players' application after their 1-1 draw with Bolton left the Baggies seven points from Premier League safety.
The visit of former Albion boss Gary Megson and his Bolton team was one pin-pointed by Mowbray as a must-win for the Throstles in their battle against relegation.
The hosts had Scott Carson to thank at half-time as the teams entered all-square with Albion having a goal disallowed for offside following a Marc-Antonie Fortune effort. Carson however was powerless to stop Matt Taylor opening the scoring in the 67th minute before Robert Koren equalised courtesy of a deflection.
Albion pushed in the final stages with both Gianni Zuiverloon and Paul Robinson sacrificed for attacking options however the Baggies were again left disappointed with a point.
"While it's disappointing today, I couldn't question the application of the players," the Baggies boss admitted.
"The supporters stuck with the team right to the death and we had a real go.
"Ultimately, I felt we did enough to win it, but we didn't quite have the quality to get a second goal.
"We had to pick ourselves up off the floor after conceding the type of goal we'd worked on all week to try and prevent.
"We did a fair amount of work on dealing with second balls and the directness of the way Bolton put the ball in your box.
"Their goal was the direct result of that - a long ball they put into the box that got headed out and put back into our net.
"But I couldn't criticise in any way the way the players applied themselves to the task.
"They competed against a very physical side that can overpower football teams.
"We were always in the game and unfortunate at the death not to win it.
"It was a strange game, really.
"On the balance of play, they probably had the more threatening moments and got them from the way they play.
"But I felt for long spells we controlled the game.
"We played against a defensively, well-organised, structured team that doesn't allow you too often to play through or around them.
"I thought in the first 20 minutes we managed to do that well and pushed them back.
"Then they got a foothold in the game and had a 20-minute spell themselves when they had a few chances and asked questions of our defence.
"Yet great credit to our players for having a go.
"That last quarter-of-an-hour to 20 minutes saw us applying ourselves to what we asked them to do to try and get back in the game.
"We did get back into it and very, very nearly won it.
"We could also have lost it as well because that's the nature of the way we played in the last half-an-hour.
"Scott Carson made a great save.
"I would rather gamble to lose a football match trying to win it."
Stoke's victory over Middlesbrough left Albion two wins and a draw away from 17th place with the Potters travelling next to The Hawthorns. While the Baggies' current predicament is far from ideal, Mowbray has still refused to admit relegation is a certainty.
"It makes life more difficult for us," Mowbray added.
"We have got to go and win some games on the road and try and win our four remaining home games.
"I've never questioned if the players have given up the ghost.
"I said in the dressing room afterwards they need to keep applying themselves.
"I only ask them to do things the way we set the team up and how we play.
"They just need to keep going."