Di Matteo braced for a hostile night
Monday 26th April 2010, 9:45AM BST.
Albion boss Roberto Di Matteo is braced for a hostile night as they head to Crystal Palace in search of a new club record.
The Baggies will break their all-time record for points in a season with a win or draw at Selhurst Park this evening in their final away game of the season.
But they will face a Palace side needing just one win to avoid relegation from the Championship and Di Matteo is demanding total focus from his already-promoted side.
He said: “The same applies as applied to the Middlesbrough game. We’re going to be professional, I am going to be playing the best team available to me and we have to expect a hostile atmosphere because they are down there fighting to stay in the league.
“It’s going to be a difficult atmosphere for us. They will be playing at home and they need points, so I would expect them to be positive rather than negative.
“It could be an advantage or at least give us a chance to exploit the space.”
Albion are also out for revenge after their 1-0 defeat to the Eagles at the Hawthorns in September – a loss that still rankles with Di Matteo.
He said: “We will remind them but I don’t think it was one of the worst days of the season.
“I don’t think we deserved to lose that game because they only had one chance and even that was a long ball from halfway into the box, so it wasn’t even a real chance.”
One more point would take Di Matteo’s side past the record haul of 89 points collected by Gary Megson’s 2002 promotion outfit.
Di Matteo said: “We set that target after the Doncaster game and with the three points against Boro we moved a step closer to that target and it’s still in our minds.
“We are still telling the players I expect them to be professional. We are in a position to break the record so we want to do so.”
UK Sport
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