Albion have the ambition to go up, says Bilic
West Brom boss Slaven Bilic believes Albion’s staying power at top of the Championship proves they have the building blocks for promotion.
The Baggies are closing in on a return to the Premier League after two years away.
They are on the verge of making a quicker comeback than today’s visitors Hull, who are battling the drop to Sky Bet League One just three years after being relegated from the Premier League. Middlesbrough, Stoke and Huddersfield are also fighting relegation having played in the top flight in the last three years. Second-placed Albion tumbled out of the Premier League in 2018 and lost in the play-offs last year but now look set for a return to the elite with Bilic praising the club’s foundations. He said: “When you have those cornerstones it’s much easier to improvise. The club is very well managed, not in terms of me but the owners and Mark ( Jenkins, chief executive) and Luke (Dowling, technical director). “Mark is very experienced and hungry but very stable. He already has scenarios for 2021, whatever happens. “Every league is difficult, the second divisions of England, Turkey, Germany, Italy, France, Spain – whatever.
“I have a feeling in some of those leagues. For a powerhouse to go down it’s more about if they show ambition there’s a big chance that club will go back up. Here it isn’t, it’s not basically down to you. There are 10 other teams.” Elsewhere, Middlesbrough host QPR as Neil Warnock looks to pull off another escape act after he replaced Jonathan Woodgate last month. “Look at the next division down from us,” said Warnock. “There are some big, big clubs that over the years have gone down and haven’t got back for years and years. “I remember Aston Villa and Sheffield Wednesday and all these big clubs going down into the third tier. Sunderland are down there now. Portsmouth. Coventry. No club has a divine right not to be relegated.” Swansea also welcome Sheffield Wednesday needing a win to keep pace with the top six. The Owls’ own promotion hopes are fading after one win in their last five games, before and after lockdown, leaving them in mid-table.
Boss Garry Monk said: “We have worked hard to improve things, enhance principles and we want to take them into next season because there will be a short turnaround. “We need to show patience but the lads have got a good eagerness to it and shown a good appetite towards it.”