Baggies bid to outclass neighbours
Saturday 21st May 2011, 12:30PM BST.
Albion today targeted top spot in the West Midlands as boss Roy Hodgson insisted their clash with Newcastle tomorrow is not a ‘nothing game’.
The Baggies will end their season at St James’ Park without the pressure of a relegation battle having secured their Premier League status with three games to spare.
But victory would guarantee they end the season as the top West Midlands club for the first time in 30 years with Villa, who entertain Liverpool tomorrow, a point behind but with a superior goal difference.
Hodgson said: “It is a goal for us to finish above the others and it is something we would be proud of as an achievement.
“That just adds to the reasons that we are taking this game very seriously.
“We want to go there and get a result, preferably a victory, but to do that we will have to play well because Newcastle is never an easy place to go.
“To finish ahead of Villa I think we will have to get a result at Newcastle, be it a win or a draw, because our goal difference isn’t very good. But it would be nice if we can get the result ourselves to keep us up there.
“You can’t reproduce the tension that a must-win game brings when it isn’t a must-win game but on the other hand we have produced a very professional and hard-working week in training.
“There will be a lot of very disappointed faces in the dressing room on Sunday evening despite our retention of Premier League status if we don’t get something from the game.”
* Albion have announced that adult season ticket prices for next season will start from £439 after the June 13 ‘early bird’ deadline.
Adult prices after June 13 are £40-50 higher than ‘early bird’ rates while prices for concessions and juniors begin at £299 and £139 respectively — £30 and £10 more than ‘early bird’ levels.
UK Sport
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