Gareth McAuley eyes top 10 for Albion

Defender Gareth McAuley wants West Brom to start building in the right direction again after stressing another relegation scrap is not in their plans.

Two straight defeats and a haul of just eight points from their opening eight games has left the Baggies 17th in the early Premier League table.

Supporters are fearing another long campaign battling near the bottom, but centre-back McAuley insists sights are set far higher.

He said: "The aim for the season is to push up towards the top half if we can, and especially to keep away from the bottom three.

"The last couple of seasons, there's been times when we've been too close for comfort."

After consecutive top-10 finishes under Roy Hodgson and Steve Clarke, Albion have spent the past two campaigns dicing against the drop and the target for McAuley is clear.

He said: "We would like to finish the season with our best-ever points tally in the Premier League and reach that 50 points mark, which we've never quite done in the past.

"When I joined the club, it was always about building and doing better, which we did initially.

"But now we've had a couple of seasons where we fell back a little bit so it would be nice to start going in the right direction again and to start building again."

McAuley, currently on international duty with Northern Ireland as they look to secure Euro 2016 qualification, has been a mainstay of Albion's defence to this point of the season.

Boss Tony Pulis signed Jonny Evans and James Chester to bolster his back-line over the summer, but the 35-year-old admits to relishing the competition.

He said: "There's really good competition for places which is important, especially over a long season when you get injuries and suspensions as well. When you are in the team, you need to perform."