Chris Brunt admits West Brom's squad shouldn't be going down

The Albion midfielder, who has been made captain by caretaker boss Darren Moore in Jonny Evans’s absence, admits their recent upturn in form will probably be too little, too late.

The Baggies are nine points from safety with four games remaining and despite their shock win over Manchester United on Sunday, would still need a miracle to stay up.

Long-serving Brunt is expected to stay at the Albion for a 12th season after triggering an extra 12 months on his contract and he’s hoping a flourish at the end of this campaign will give the club ‘good vibes’ ahead of an important summer.

Giving an honest appraisal of a dismal season after Sunday’s victory, he said: “Look, you finish where you deserve to finish over the course of the season. For long periods of the season, we haven’t been good enough.

“I am sure there’s any number of things you can put your finger on, but ultimately it’s us that go out on the pitch and we don’t get the results.

“We haven’t scored enough goals and we’ve conceded too many goals, so that’s a bad combination to have.

“I think from top to bottom, everybody at the football club over the summer, we’ll all have a good look at ourselves and dust ourselves down and make sure that this doesn’t happen again.

"Because with the squad of players we’ve got, we haven’t been good enough and we should be doing better.”

Albion have delayed their relegation with victory over United, and while Brunt said it’s never over until it’s over, he understands the most realistic outcome is that the Baggies go down fighting.

“It’s probably too little too late, but it is a positive,” he added. “We’ll take as many of these as we can between now and the end of the season.

"Obviously it buys you an extra couple of weeks, I suppose you never know. You can’t effect what’s going on around you.

“If we can win a few games between now and the end of the season, worst case scenario it gives us some good vibes going into next year.

“Until somebody says it’s impossible for you to do it, you’ve got to keep going.

"Even when it is impossible, you’ve still got to play the games.

"You’ve got people paying money to come and watch. They travelled in their numbers again (on Sunday).

“Considering the season we’ve had, the fans have been top draw for us.

“As we say it is probably too little too late – it might not be, you never know, you’ve got to keep going.

“But things will happen over the summer and it is up to us to make sure as a group of players, as a football club, staff, whatever it is, that we make sure we put it right and have a good go next year regardless of what division we’re in.”