Gabriel Tamas targets points not praise

Defender Gabriel Tamas has urged Albion to target points over panache as they head for a true clash of styles at Stoke tonight.

A Baggies team known for their attractive brand of football will take on a rudimentary Stoke side at the Britannia Stadium this evening with Albion desperate to end their Potters away-day hoodoo.

The Baggies have not won at Stoke since Ally Brown, Peter Eastoe and Cyrille Regis scored in a 3-0 success in 1982, since when they have lost 13 and drawn four matches at the Victoria Ground and the Potters' current home.

But Albion know away wins will be needed to keep them in the Premier League and Tamas, recalled last weekend by new boss Roy Hodgson, pictured left, does not believe aesthetics matter in the crucial final 11 matches of the season.

"If you play good football and you're not in the Premier League next season, what do you say?" asked the Romania international.

"You can talk about playing great football but so what? You are in the Championship. We need to win points and it doesn't matter whether it's playing well or badly.

"Football is not about who is better or worse. You need to get the points and that is what is important.

"Look at Inter Milan against Barcelona last season. Inter played good football in a lot of games and then in one game against Barcelona they defended and did it really well.

"And that is the game. You need to play for the points. It doesn't matter whether you play great football or bad football. You need to win. Let's hope we can play badly and win."

Tamas hopes to retain his place for tonight's clash with Tony Pulis's men, and Albion's defenders can expect an aerial bombardment from a Potters side specialising in set-pieces and the famed long throws of Rory Delap.

But Tamas does not believe Pulis's men should be treated differently from many Premier League rivals.

"I think football in England is like that," said Tamas. "There are a lot of corners, free-kicks and long throws.

"At our stadium when we have a corner everyone is on their feet and shouting. That is English football and every game is the same.

"Maybe Stoke have a few more free-kicks than other teams. but football is like that in England.

"All the games are difficult and you cannot say one team is worse than all the others.

"When we started the season we lost 6-0 at Chelsea and everybody said we would be the first team relegated.

"But after that we got a few good results that no-one expected and that happens in England. There are no big teams who win every game and no small teams who lose every time."

Tamas will hope he did enough against Wolves last Sunday to earn a place in Hodgson's first away selection as Baggies boss.

The 63-year-old has now spent a fortnight in charge after succeeding Roberto Di Matteo, who brought Tamas to England 13 months ago.

And the likable centre-back has been impressed with the early days of Hodgson's reign.

"It is good," said Tamas. "He likes to work with us. He is a good man.

"I saw him when he was at Liverpool and heard about him when he was at Fulham and he is a good manager. He has done some great stuff."

Hodgson has placed an emphasis on improving Albion's defending since his appointment.

And Tamas, who was left out of Di Matteo's final two matches in charge, admits the Baggies were in desperate need of attention at the back.

"He saw the results and knew he had work to do," he said. "Defending is the worst part of our team because we concede a lot of goals."

"Yes, we need to work harder on our defence."

"I sincerely don't know why it's happened but we need to work harder on our defence.

"We concede goals in almost every game but we also score goals.

"It would be better not to concede so many goals and maybe not score so many, because I am always sure we will score some in every game because of the players we have.

"The problem is defensive because we give goals away. If you give away a goal in this league it is very difficult to score two or three.

"In some games we do that and we do score goals but we need to work harder to not concede goals.

"In England if you are not concentrated 100 per cent in every game it is very easy to lose, from a corner or a free-kick.

"You can lose the points very easily in the Premier League and you need to concentrate in every game.

"It doesn't matter which team you are playing against."

And Tamas has insisted the Baggies still believe they can stave off relegation to the Championship.

"We need to win. If we win two games we won't be down there anymore.

"If you look at the table there are so many teams down there. If we win a game we can jump five places, so we just need to win.

"With 40 points you will definitely stay in the Premier League so we need 12 more points.

"We have 11 games to play and if we win four we will definitely stay in the Premier League."