Slaven Bilic challenges West Brom players to get 100 points
Albion boss Slaven Bilic has challenged his players to do exactly the same again over the second half of the season as they hit the halfway mark in the Championship on an impressive 50 points.
Saturday’s 1-1 draw against an impressive Brentford side means the Baggies now have a three-point advantage at the summit as they travel to Barnsley on Boxing Day to begin the second half of the Championship programme.
The head coach is understandably delighted at Albion’s position at the head of the table, but knows there is still so much more work to be done.
“It feels great to be top, it is a privilege,” said Bilic. “It also feels a big obligation for us, because we have to continue. There is still a long, long way to go and it is a big marathon.
“For the number of points that we have – if we do this in the second half of the season then I don’t see a way that we don’t finish in the top two.”
Albion will assess the ankle injury picked up by Kyle Bartley which saw him withdrawn early in the second half, with Ahmed Hegazi not available to replace him having been dropped from the bench for what Bilic described post-match as a ‘training ground incident’.
“It’s a little thing, but it was something that was big enough for him to be not in the squad,” said Bilic.
Instead, 20-year-old Dara O’Shea stepped off the bench to make his league debut, and very much impressed his head coach.
“From last season we lost numbers as well as quality in the centre-back area, but one of the reasons I didn’t want to sign another centre-back was Dara,” Bilic explained.
