Robson plays down midlands clash
Bryan Robson has insisted West Brom’s vital Barclays Premiership clash with Birmingham at St Andrews on Saturday is not a relegation decider.
Albion can take a massive step towards ensuring survival if they overcome Steve Bruce’s side and stretch their advantage to six points.
But a win for Blues would draw them level on 26 points with their West Midlands rivals and leave them with a game in hand.
Robson believes Albion need four more wins to stay up and probably condemn close friend Bruce to the drop into the Coca-Cola Championship.
However, he is still hoping to drag other teams such as Middlesbrough, Aston Villa and Fulham into the scrap to survive in the final quarter of the campaign.
Robson said: “Saturday is not a six-pointer, no matter what people think. It’s a three-pointer. Of course, it is one very important match.
“But, whatever the result, both teams will still be in a fight to avoid relegation. It will settle nothing. We will still have 27 points to play for and Birmingham 30.
“Our hope, in addition to picking up as many points as possible, is to try to drag clubs like Middlesbrough, Aston Villa and Fulham into the fight. Realistically, we need four wins to stay up.”
Robson is aware that finding some consistency would greatly aid Albion’s cause but he believes they will stay up if they repeat the form shown against Chelsea at the weekend.
He said: “We have been up and down with our form this season so we need to aim for consistency.
"The difference between now and this time last year is that it is all in our own hands.
“That is important. It is other people who are trying to catch up. If the lads can hit the form they did on Saturday, then we should be okay, but we have to get to that standard of performance.
“We know that if we can play that well against Chelsea we can play that well against anybody. We gave them a really hard game.
“To stay up, we will have to win probably four matches. We have to keep believing all the time.
"Every season, a club seems to be in freefall and they drop into the relegation zone.”
