Football
PA Sport 6y

Alan Pardew acknowledges West Brom nearing end of survival hopes

Alan Pardew admits West Bromwich Albion are nearing the end in their attempts to stay in the Premier League following a "galling" defeat at Bournemouth.

West Brom, bottom of the table with just 20 points, surrendered the lead to lose 2-1 to Bournemouth on Saturday, matching a club record with a seventh consecutive league loss that leaves them 10 points from safety.

Jay Rodriguez looked set to ease the pressure on Pardew when he opened the scoring early in the second half at the Vitality Stadium, but late goals from Jordon Ibe and Junior Stanislas meant they returned home empty-handed.

"Tough for us today [and] tough for my players in particular because in terms of the game plan and delivering it, I couldn't really ask for any more," Pardew said.

"We got ourselves in a great position, made a couple of errors and got punished for it. That's kind of the story of our season a little, but it was galling today because obviously, without it being our last chance, it's getting near last-chance saloon.

"We needed to get something today. It's such a galling way to end the game."

Pardew, who held clear-the-air talks with ownership during the week, has now lost 11 of his 17 league games in charge since replacing Tony Pulis in late November.

Asked if the 10-point deficit at the bottom was too much to overturn with just seven games remaining, he replied: "If you look at our record since the start of the year, then you would have to say yes.

"Of course, we have to keep battling on. I think anybody who was here today -- even our harshest critic -- would say that there was good belief in the team to try to get a victory. That performance could easily have been a win. Unfortunately for us, it wasn't."

Bournemouth won for the their time in five games and are eight points above the relegation zone.

Stanislas curled home the 88th-minute winner from a free kick after Ibe levelled the scores 11 minutes earlier with a shot that deceived West Brom goalkeeper Ben Foster.

Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe said his team's performances was below par and he was relieved with the result.

"It's the hardest way but I'll take any way at this stage of the season," Howe said. "We had to dig very deep, but thankfully, we got over the line.

"Today was huge. We knew how tough it was going to be. They have a lot of experience in there. We had to find a way to win without playing well."

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