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NO team propping up the Premiership at Christmas could ever survive, so history said.

Yet West Brom under Bryan Robson (left) made a mockery of that statistic to stay up, despite going into the final day in 20th place having at one stage been eight points adrift.

Former Hawthorns defender Darren Moore still smiles at the 2-0 win over Portsmouth which kept Albion in the top flight.

He says Robson’s masterstroke was taking the team to Florida, following just one league win in 19 games.

There were some drunken antics, but no one could accuse Albion of a hangover on their return. They won three of the next four matches and took 16 points from their final 11 games.

Moore, 43, said: “When we got to Christmas it was highly documented we were down and it was inevitable. But Bryan took us away from the negative energy that was building. It got the team bonding and when we came back we carried on that team spirit and togetherness.”