OPINION
John Motson delivered his verdict on West Bromwich Albion’s imminent showdown with Aston Villa on Saturday in order to reveal he thought was an important game.
The legendary commentator seemed on the brink of saying that it was more important to WBA, before adjusting to say that it was key for both clubs.
However Motson then briefly highlighted the fact that West Brom were trying to get automatically promoted rather than in the play-offs, and it suggested he did think it was more important of a game for Darren Moore’s side than the Villans as a result.
“It’s an important game particularly… for both clubs as you said, but West Brom are in that group trying to get up with Leeds and Norwich,” said Motson on talkSPORTÂ (14:43, Friday February 15th).
While Dean Smith’s side could potentially benefit from the pressure being on their opponents on Saturday, Motson’s brief will surely leave some Villans miffed, as there should no doubt that Saturday’s game is a must-win.
The Villans, especially their supporters, have ambitions of winning promotion this season after reaching the play-off final in the 2017/18 campaign and their brink of seeing that goal go unmet.
Smith’s side currently sit 10th in the Championship, seven points off sixth-placed Middlesbrough, and can’t afford to drop any points if they want any chance of being in the Premier League next season.
Also with the Villans being at home on Saturday, they should be fretting over making sure they take three points from every visiting opponent that arrives at Villa Park before the end of the season to give themselves a chance.
This game is also particularly important as due to WBA doing so well in England’s second-tier this season, they’re bound to take points off the teams around Villa competing for that elusive play-off spot.
While the Baggies are also in the fight for the play-offs, as well as being a dark-horse for automatic promotion, they are in a more comfortable position at this time and dropping points on Saturday wouldn’t ultimately kill off their chances.
Therefore it’s clear that some Villans fans will be rightly miffed by Motson’s verdict on Saturday game as he seems oblivious to the club’s ambition or even worse, he has written them off already.