Sam Allardyce: West Brom showed spirit in derby draw
Boss Sam Allardyce had nothing but praise for his players despite Albion conceding a stoppage-time equaliser to draw with rivals Villa.
A thoroughly entertaining derby at Villa Park saw the two teams come away with a share of the spoils following a 2-2 draw.
Albion, though, really should have won the game with Dean Smith's side grabbing an equaliser at the death when Keinan Davis capitalised on a mistake by Kyle Bartley.
But despite the heartbreak of the goal - which leaves Albion nine points from safety with just five games remaining - Allardyce refused to criticise his players - with the boss delighted with their overall display.
"We were just a couple of minutes away from a very, very, important three points," he said.
"As difficult as it might be, we told the lads today how many teams have managed to get themselves out of this position over the last few years.
"And there are about six of them - West Brom being one.
"It means winning a lot of games in your last few matches but five or six teams have done that and we came very close to getting a win against Villa.
"All we can do now is keep going and play like we played.
"I think the lads showed real spirit.
"We slipped up at the end but whether it was their goalkeeper or the woodwork we didn't get that third goal.
"It was our mistake for the equaliser but I can't be too critical of the players.
"It was a great effort and a great performance but not the result we wanted or deserved in my eye."
Albion are highly likely to be relegated this season.
But if they do go down, they will go down fighting - something that is pleasing Allardyce.
"The performances have been there for a long time now," the boss continued.
"Performances by everybody outside don't get recognised because we haven't got the victories we should have done.
"Those victories would have made everybody stand up.
"But we drew instead of winning or we lost by the odd goal instead of drawing.
"We could have been well past the 30 point mark now. But that's a long time gone.
"But the performances are now consistent performances in the Premier League.
"And we have had many chances to win in that period of time unlike when I first arrived and when life in the Premier League was so difficult.
"We looked so far off the level we needed to be.
"I'm pleased with the response of the players and the new players that have come in and given us an opportunity to perform better.
"We have been much better defensively, but we haven't got enough victories to draw in the teams above us and get out of the relegation zone."
