West Bromwich: West Bromwich Albion must continue to turn up the heat on teams immediately above them, manager Alan Pardew has said, as Premier League’s basement club bid to climb out of the relegation zone.
West Brom, who have 20 points from 25 games after three wins, 11 draws and 11 defeats, are three points behind fellow strugglers Swansea City and Saturday’s rivals Southampton.
Huddersfield Town, Stoke City, Brighton and Hove Albion and Newcastle United are level on 24 points to occupy the spaces above the drop zone.
“The bottom teams have picked up points and we’ve gained on those teams in the middle area and made everybody nervous. That’s important and we’ve got to keep doing that,” Pardew told the club’s website.
“Rather than focus on how important it is for Southampton, it’s more important for us to keep closing that gap to teams who probably thought they were getting comfortable — and they’re certainly not comfortable now.”
West Brom, who appointed Pardew as manager in November after sacking Tony Pulis, ended a dismal league run beating Brighton 2-0 last month for their first victory in 21 games.
They held Everton to a 1-1 draw before a 3-0 defeat at league leaders Manchester City in midweek.
