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Chris Brunt: We got carried away

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Albion head into their crucial clash at Stoke tonight with captain Chris Brunt admitting they got carried away with their early-season success.

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Albion head into their crucial clash at Stoke tonight with captain Chris Brunt admitting they got carried away with their early-season success.

The Baggies will begin the Britannia Stadium match in the Premier League drop zone for the first time since their 6-0 defeat at Chelsea on the opening day of the season.

They responded to that setback with a series of impressive results that took them to the heights of fourth place in the top flight.

But Brunt today became the first senior player to admit those unexpected successes, including the historic 3-2 victory at Arsenal, might have cost the squad its focus.

"Maybe we got a bit too far ahead of ourselves," said the winger. "If you asked anyone — players, fans or the media — at the start of the season what was in store for Albion I don't think anyone would have said anything other than a relegation fight.

"But we did so well that maybe we did start to look too far ahead on the back of some of those games, not just with the wins but also with some of the performances in the games we didn't win.

"But what has happened in the last couple of months has been a real reminder to people you cannot afford to do that because the Premier League is such a harsh environment that punishes you if you get ahead of yourself."

The Baggies dropped to second-from-bottom during the weekend courtesy of big wins for rivals Wolves and West Ham and they now have 11 matches to save their Premier League lives, starting in the Potteries tonight.

Albion have a dismal record at Stoke and will expect to face an aerial bombardment from the Potters.

Brunt said: "Stoke put a lot of balls into the box and it's a tactic that works for them because they finished in mid-table last season and could do it again this season.

"It will be a big test for us with our defensive record but, if we can continue the defensive improvement we showed against Wolves, there's no reason why we can't get a result."