West Brom hope to entice players with form

West Brom boss Steve Clarke today urged his side to end the season in style to help the club lure new players in the summer.

The Hawthorns head coach takes his men to Stoke tomorrow with their Premier League status effectively secured for next season.

But Clarke is calling on the Baggies to aim high in the remaining nine matches of the campaign to aid their squad building in the close season.

Albion head for the Potteries eighth in the table – a position that would land them £9.8m in prize money at the end of the season. But that figure would rise by £750,000 for each spot they can climb.

Clarke said: "I can't comment on finances but the closer you are to the top of the table, the more people look and think 'West Brom finished in the top half so they must be a good team and have a chance of improving again.'

"That is what we always look to do as a club. I want to improve the team next season and be better than we are this season and, if finishing higher up the table attracts better players, we want to finish as high as we can."

Clarke insists the Baggies will not ease up in the remainder of the season but he admitted their chances of qualifying for Europe are all but over.

The FA Cup semi-final draw ensured only a fifth-place finish will take teams into the Europa League.

He said: "Sometimes you get a feeling the FA Cup is not going to fall the way you want it to. For us it's just a matter now of improving the points total.

"We set the players a target of 50 and hopefully we can get there quickly and still have a few games beyond that to look at another target."