Saturday 18 April 2015 15:08, UK
West Brom manager Tony Pulis has warned his players they are not safe from relegation after Saturday's 3-2 home defeat to Leicester.
The loss against the Premier League's bottom side, which comes a week after they were thrashed at The Hawthorns by another bottom three side - QPR - leaves them seven points clear of the drop zone with six games to play.
And with games against Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool still to come, Pulis says his players cannot afford to be complacent.
Pulis said: "I don’t care what anybody says, irrespective of where the teams are in position, everybody gives it their best shot and the lads have got to understand that.
“I made a point before the QPR game that we weren’t safe and we needed a few more points. We‘ve got to get back to basics and defend properly.
"If you look at the first and third goals, they're our mistakes. They are basic lower league mistakes that cost you goals and you can't do that at this level."
West Brom twice led through Darren Fletcher and Craig Gardner, but David Nugent and Robert Huth brought Leicester back into the game before Jamie Vardy scored the winner in stoppage time.
And Pulis was critical of his players for allowing things to slip after the break.
He added: “I thought we were alright and played well in the first half. The goal was a dreadful goal for us to concede. In the second half we started sloppy and looked as though we were on the back foot.
“We had a great opportunity when Saido [Berahino] had the chance to play Gardner, who was all by himself, in to make it 3-1. From that point onwards it was all Leicester and they gave it a real shot but were really disappointed with the last two goals.
“Leicester had nothing to lose and they went hell for leather. We played really well first half and I was disappointed we didn’t keep it going. If you see some the passes, never mind the defending, where we had time on the ball to keep it and move it up the pitch and we’ve given back to them and that gave them the momentum.
“We played poorly first half against QPR and then played better second. Today we played well first half today and then bad second half, so we need a 90 minutes from the players.”
