Mowbray upbeat on survival hopes

Mowbray knows he needs to bring in some quality in the transfer window

Manager Tony Mowbray believes he can keep West Brom in the Premier League, despite going two months without a win.

The Baggies are at the foot of the table after four straight defeats, four points adrift of safety.

"All we can do is stick together, keep our standards high and try to keep the players bright and bubbly," Mowbray told BBC WM.

"You can easily sink when you're in the predicament we are and struggling to pick up the points."

Mowbray is eager to reach the January transfer window without losing touch with the other relegation battlers as he searches for reinforcements that could help his side's survival bid.

"Ultimately it comes down to the quality of footballers, I would suggest," he said.

"I can take my share of the blame as well and maybe we've got to look at how we set up and how we play.

"It's concentration, and the players who are playing for the top, top teams don't lose concentration in the last five minutes. They do their jobs, they clear the ball, and the game goes on."

West Brom host Portsmouth this Sunday in the first of three crucial fixtures prior to Christmas.

The match against Pompey is followed by a trip to Sunderland, and the visit of Manchester City to the Hawthorns.

Failure to take a significant points tally from those three games will leave the Baggies sitting at the bottom of the table at Christmas, and needing a repeat of their history-making great escape of 2005.