Pepe Mel sends out West Brom survival warning

Victory over the Hammers at The Hawthorns would represent a huge step towards safety with three games to spare. But the Spaniard believes a loss to Sam Allardyce's men would ensure his side's battle to beat the drop would go all the way to their final match of the season at home to Stoke.

"This is the final – only one match," said Mel. "At the end of the game, when we all go to our homes, the Premier League must be over for us (with survival).

"If we lose the game we may well have to go on until the Stoke game, which wouldn't be very good for our hearts.

"We have played under pressure in games against Cardiff and also at Norwich and against Spurs in a massive game against a really strong side and we've done really well. In the last six games we have won two and drawn two so I believe we're ready.

"The Manchester City game was a very difficult game, particularly being 2-0 down inside 10 minutes. But the sort of performances we've seen are the sort of performances that we need to see to stay up."

Mel's men have struggled to stem the flow of goals past keeper Ben Foster with Cardiff, Tottenham and Manchester City all scoring three times. And the Spaniard admitted he would gladly settle for a dull 1-0 victory tomorrow to take his team onto 36 points with trips to Arsenal and Sunderland and a home game against Stoke to come.

Mel reckons a win tomorrow would leave his side on the brink of safety, but defeat would leave them with a nervous pursuit of the 37 points he now believes will be needed to be sure of safety.

He said: "Before the Norwich game we spoke about the importance of clean sheets.

"Scoring goals for us seems rather easy and we need to find a balance between the two. We need to be very smart about things. West Ham are a side who are defensively very strong.

"This matches the idea that I had of the Premier League as the most competitive league in the world.

"Any team is capable of beating any other team, like Sunderland, who drew in Manchester against City and won in London against Chelsea.

"We must get these four points. If we consider West Ham are safe with 37, that's also what we would need.

"Last year 36 was the cut-off point and Fulham and Cardiff currently have 30 points – 37 would be enough to keep you up."

Mel's men face the physical threat of Hammers striker Andy Carroll tomorrow but may be without key defender Gareth McAuley, who is still struggling with a calf strain.

"Defending against Andy Carroll isn't easy," he admitted. "Whether it be Olsson, Lugano or Dawson who is defending against them, it's important that we're united."

The Hammers appear safe and the Baggies boss is hoping to create a miserable afternoon for their goalkeeper Adrian, who was between the sticks for him at Real Betis.

Asked whether the visitors might lack intensity, Mel said: "I really hope so but, knowing Sam Allardyce, I really don't think that will be the case. For the first time in my life, I really do hope Adrian has a bad afternoon."