West Brom V West Ham at The Hawthorns : Match Preview

29 April 2016 16:34
West Brom V West Ham - view commentary, squad, and statistics of the game live.


Tony Pulis full of praise for would-be champions Leicester

West Brom boss Tony Pulis believes Leicester's title win would be the biggest shock in football after the Baggies handed them a chance to clinch it on Sunday.

Albion's 1-1 draw with Tottenham on Monday means if the Foxes win at Manchester United on Sunday they will take the Barclays Premier League crown.

Both Spurs and the Foxes have three games left but Claudio Ranieri's side need just three points for their first-ever top flight trophy.

Albion's draw at White Hart Lane left Tottenham, who go to Chelsea on Monday, needing to win all of their games and hope Leicester slip up and Pulis feels the Foxes' triumph would eclipse past winners.

He said: "Going back a long time ago (Nottingham) Forest got promoted and won the league (in 1978) and the following year won the European Cup. This is as big, if not bigger, because there's a massive divide between teams who have and haven't.

"It's as good as anyone could ever imagine. It's massive, nobody would have believed it."

Albion host West Ham on Saturday with James Morrison training again after a hamstring injury while Saido Berahino and Ben Foster (both ankle) will be assessed after missing the draw at White Hart Lane. Chris Brunt is out until next season with a knee injury.

Youngsters Jonathan Leko and Tyler Roberts have been training with the first team squad and could play a part on Saturday.

Pulis added: "West Ham have had a wonderful season. They have signed some good players and Slaven (Bilic) is a good manager. He has come back to England, knows the scene, and taken the bull by the horns."

West Ham manager Bilic does not want to end the season as a Manchester United fan.

He is chasing a top-six finish and a place in Europe, but an FA Cup final win for the Red Devils could extend the Europa League spots to seventh.

However, Bilic is hoping the Hammers will have sewn up qualification themselves rather than wait on the outcome of United's Wembley clash with Crystal Palace a week after the Premier League campaign has ended.

"I would like to see them win it, that would give us a bit of a cushion," he admitted.

"But the good thing is everything is in our hands, and I'd rather us do it than wait until one week after the season with our red flags and be a Man United fan.

"The top six is a target and it has been a target for quite a while now.

"It's going to be hard, we have Liverpool and Southampton (behind us). But we are unbeaten in a long time, we have had a good run and we are fully motivated."

Bilic remembers falling foul of a team with seemingly little to play for during his time as a defender with German side Karlsruhe.

"You talk about Newcastle and they are in trouble but West Brom have never been in trouble at all. That shows they have a good team and good mentality.

"The teams are playing for their pride, for their fans, for themselves sometimes. Once I played in Germany and we had to play the last game of the season and had to win it to get into Europe.

"It was a team like Aston Villa who had been relegated since March or April - and they beat us 5-1!

West Ham have a fully-fit squad available for the trip to West Brom. Andy Carroll is set to start up front again after scoring six goals in his last six games.


Source: PAR