Steve Clarke: West Brom facing struggle to avoid relegation

Former Albion boss Steve Clarke believes replacement Pepe Mel faces a "struggle" to keep the Baggies in the Premier League.

The Scot broke his silence on his Hawthorns sacking and insisted he never lost the loyalty of the Baggies players before he was shown the door in December.

And Clarke claimed Mel, who was appointed as his successor following a month-long search, has a difficult job to save the club from relegation.

"The club didn't have anyone in mind when they made the change because they put Keith Downing in charge and he got a good reaction," said Clarke.

"He stabilised the ship and got three draws and a good home win against Newcastle. Now the club have decided to go down the foreign route and bring in Pepe Mel.

"He seems like a nice guy. I don't know him but anyone I have spoken to at West Brom says he's a good guy so I wish him well in his struggles for the rest of the season.

"And it will be struggles because even in recent matches you can see the team are competitive but it's still a battle and they're only getting draws when they should be getting wins."

The Baggies, who are in the final stages of a six-day Spanish training camp, have yet to win in five matches under Mel with three home wins and two away defeats so far.

And Clarke admitted he was disappointed to be relieved of his duties so soon after leading the club to an eighth-placed Premier League finish in May.

"I knew the pressure was building but I thought I would get the Christmas period," he said.

"It seemed a strange time to make the change because we had Hull City coming up the following week.

"Obviously the chairman decided enough was enough and he wanted to make the change and you have to respect that. It was disappointing. I felt I still had the dressing room. The players were fighting for me every day and working well in training."

"When you still have the dressing room you always feel you have a chance.

"It was a strange Christmas at home. It took me about four weeks to relax properly and get over it but I'm over it now and looking forward to the next challenge."