Top two is still No.1 Baggies priority, says Jake
JAKE Livermore has warned West Bromwich Albion’s automatic promotion rivals: Write us off at your peril
After collecting ten points from a possible 12, to move to within touching distance of the top two in the Championship, Albion suffered a chastening defeat to Sheffield United last weekend.
But with 36 points still to fight for in this most unpredictable campaign, and a huge game at fellow promotion contenders Leeds United on Friday, Livermore reckons “it’s all to play for”.
“Nothing can be ruled out and nothing can be taken for granted,” said Livermore, who won promotion to the Premier League with Hull in 2015/16.
“Anything can happen at any time and we still feel there is an awful lot of football left in this season.
“The thing about this division is that you never know what can happen next and you always get chances to repair the damage of a result like the one against Sheffield United.
“That certainly applies on Friday night. It’s another huge game for us. Leeds are one of the clubs we need to catch and just as everyone will be questioning our home form, they will also be impressed by our away performances.
“It may be we get that little bit more space in those games, but we will certainly go into that match confident we can get a result.”
Albion will once again be cheered on by an army of travelling fans at Elland Road.
The players have all chipped in to pay for coaches to get supporters to the ground as thanks for their continued backing on the road.
“It’s great the fans have responded to the players’ travel offer,” Livermore said.
“Our away support this season has been nothing short of fantastic and we are delighted they will be with us at Elland Road.
“It should be a and a great game.”
Livermore’s tired performance against the Blades typified the fatigue that ran through the team at the tailend of an energy-sapping threegame week.
The Baggies have now won only two of their last 11 at The Hawthorns
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atmosphere and Livermore needs to change.
“Of course, the home form has got to be something we look at and address,” said the former England man.
“We need to pick up a weight of points from those games and we have got to accept we have underperformed on that front since the
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something turn of the year. That’s up to us to sort out.
“I’m sure we will be working on plans to improve our home results.
“The fans were well up for it on Saturday and we’re just so frustrated we couldn’t give them the result and performance we all wanted.
“We were gutted by the result and, to be honest, the performance.”