Proud Albion boss Roberto Di Matteo hailed his record breakers – then promptly set them one more target for their promotion-winning season.

The Hawthorns head coach was delighted to see his side set a new club record of 90 points in a season with their draw at Crystal Palace.

But the Italian has one more landmark in his sights – beating Leicester’s record for the highest runners-up points tally in England’s second tier.

That record of 92 points was set by the Foxes seven years ago and victory against Barnsley at the Hawthorns on Sunday would see Albion surpass that total.

Di Matteo said: “The record’s credit to the players. They have been outstanding this season and it shows in the points we have. The professionalism and attitude has been fantastic.

“Leicester’s record is going to be our aim for the last game. If we win that one we’ll put more points on top of the 90 we have and finish the season in a positive manner and good style.

“We can then carry that momentum through to the summer and next season.”

Di Matteo’s men also ensured they will end the season with just three away defeats in the league, a feat Albion have achieved just once before – in a 34-game season early in the 20th century.

But the Baggies boss felt his side could have left South London last night with all three points.

He said: “We certainly had enough chances to, we probably feel like we could have won the game and should have scored the second goal.

“For the integrity of the season I think it was our duty to play the best team available and the players showed again a tremendous attitude tonight – I think it’s only fair.

“We expected Palace to be a physical team and it was quite a rough game to be honest. We’re pleased with the result and with the way we played. We felt we could have won the game but I was delighted with the way we played.

“Their goalkeeper made some great saves and it’s a bit unusual for us not to score one or two more goals.”

Di Matteo refused to be drawn on the sending off of Palace midfielder Neil Danns for a head butt on Graham Dorrans.

But the head coach confirmed both Dorrans and Jonas Olsson were brought off to avoid the risk of red cards, after both were booked for losing their temper.

He said: “I took Dorrans off and Jonas Olsson off to get them out of the spotlight. It wasn’t just Alan Lee and Jonas Olsson, it was all over the pitch and it was quite a rough game.

“There was no need for us to get any players sent off. I made the substitutions and we have very good players on the bench who can come on and have an impact.”

Palace boss Paul Hart vowed to finish the job after the draw took his team’s season of turmoil to the wire.

The Eagles, docked 10 points and still in administration, knew a win last night would be enough to keep them in the Championship and condemn Sheffield Wednesday to relegation.

Instead they head for Hillsborough on Sunday needing a point to survive from what promises to be a nerve-jangling final-day decider.

Hart said: “We don’t have to win – our away form is excellent so it’s a game to look forward to. We just have to turn out another performance of that calibre. The players are tired. They threw everything at it.

“But they can see we’ve got a good chance of staying up. I don’t think you can play for the draw. You have to go and play to win.

“We are in a better position that Sheffield Wednesday, so we have to make it count.”