Pardew: We are hurting
BOSS WANTS LIFT-OFF
ALAN PARDEW insists his West Brom players won’t buckle.
The Baggies boss says his underfire players are hurt and don’t need any extra incentive to pull off a miracle escape.
Pardew’s men are rooted to the bottom of the table, eight points from safety with nine games left.
They’ve been hammered from pillar to post after amassing just three league wins all season and a warm-weather break in Spain last month which went catastrophically wrong.
Now Pardew is urging his men to summon up a massive push starting with today’s home game against Leicester.
“It would be stupid to say that the players have not got a reaction to some of the hurt they’ve suffered,” said Pardew.
“Some of it is self-inflicted, as we know, which we won’t go over. But of course it hurts when people write you off.
“Everybody is writing us off, but we certainly don’t think that.
“We’re in a difficult situation but it’s not impossible. There’s an inner resolve to prove people wrong and looking at the players, I think they want to do that.
“A victory can change the dynamic of things very, very quickly. We’ve got to show our fans what it means to us.”
The Baggies’ boss hopes his men can take on a siege mentality and come out scrapping for their lives.
They will probably have to do it without two of their most experienced players, with skipper Jonny Evans ill and midfielder Gareth Barry carrying a knee injury.
Burden
“It hurts because you have pride in what you do and dignity in the way you handle yourself, whether you are a manager or a footballer,” added Pardew.
“The result reflects on everybody and so 11 players carry a huge responsibility to carry that burden, but that’s part of being a sportsman.
“If they haven’t got that drive then I should look elsewhere in my squad.
“The worry we have is Jonny, who has been sick for the last two days, so he is a big doubt.”