Slaven Bilic: West Brom always wanted to play
Slaven Bilic says he would have had mixed feelings if Albion won promotion following the curtailment of the 2019/20 campaign.
But the boss believes if the season had ended early, the Baggies would have thoroughly deserved their place in the Premier League.
Following a three-month suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic, Bilic’s side resume their promotion push today when they host Blues at The Hawthorns.
But while the Premier League and Championship have returned, League One and League Two haven’t – with those divisions settled on points per game.
Sitting second in the table, the Baggies would have won promotion if the Championship had also been curtailed.
Bilic, though, is happy they are playing on.
“If we’d been promoted without restarting, it would’ve been mixed feelings,” he said. “I was in a strange situation.
“I have to say that we – and Leeds – were very vocal that we wanted to finish the season.
“Anything can happen, it’s risky, but we want it.
“But let’s be honest, if we had been promoted then nobody could’ve said it’s not fair.
“We’re not talking about concluding the season after five, 10, 15, 20 games.
“This is 37 games, four-fifths of the season.
“We were on top of the table for the most number of days. Nobody could’ve said we didn’t do this or that.
“That would also have been justified and fair.
“But this is the way we wanted it.”
Meanwhile, Jake Livermore admits he too questioned whether the 2019/20 season would resume.
But now it has he says he can’t wait to get back out onto the pitch – with the skipper confident the players will cope with the unique atmosphere that comes with playing behind closed doors.
“To be honest, the uncertainty at the beginning – we didn’t know if we were coming back,” Livermore said.
“We didn’t really know what to think because you knew things would just adapt as time went on and we began to learn more about the virus.
“But the boys are buzzing to be back.
“It’s nice to have that togetherness again and to have the opportunity to achieve our goal.
“For me personally, I just can’t wait to hear the whistle and get going.
“It’s going to be strange without the fans there.
“The fans will be with us in spirit, we know that.
“But we’ve got to create our own atmosphere.
“The manager has put on sessions to emulate some of the conditions we will be facing. We will be as prepared as we can be.
“I think we’re as ready as we can be.”
