Dean Ashton claimed West Brom have the pacy players who can devastate Leeds United on the counter-attack in Friday night’s “superb” showdown.
The pundit revealed that if West Brom were to lose to Leeds at Elland Road than in his opinion the Baggies would struggle to finish in the top two in the Championship.
Ashton claimed that West Brom had wasted several chances over the last month to be more in contention for automatic promotion and didn’t think anymore would come their way if they lost to Marcelo Bielsa’s side.
“Obviously Leeds having a bit of a wobble at the moment and West Brom have a superb away record, they’ll be delighted that they are playing away because they have been so good,” said Ashton on talkSPORT (Thursday February 28th 21:36)
“I think the players they’ve got suit them playing away from home, they’ve got pace on the break, obviously this is set up to be a superb game.
“Obviously being a Friday night game like we said, it’s about can you get the points on the board?
“I think this is West Brom’s last chance to get automatic promotion, I think if they were to lose against Leeds, I think for me anyway, they would really struggle to get in the top two if they weren’t to win this.
“I think they’ve had their chances over the last few months especially at home where they haven’t converted draws into victories or they’ve conceded late on to lose points.
“This is a real big chance for them, they had a great chance against Sheffield United and couldn’t come through that, and for me this is the last chance.”
OPINION
It’s hard to disagree with Ashton here as West Brom are surely in the last chance saloon regarding their automatic promotion hopes. The Baggies are currently four points behind second-place Sheffield United and third-placed Leeds and a win against Bielsa’s side would keep their hopes of avoiding the play-offs alive. All signs suggest West Brom have a golden chance against Leeds as Bielsa’s side not only slipped up in their last outing against QPR, but the Baggies’ away record shows what a force they are on the road. There’s also the fact that West Brom beat Leeds 4-1 earlier in the season at the Hawthorns so know that they are more than capable of achieving all three points. The only issue is that while Leeds may be hurting after their lost to QPR, it could have the opposite effect and make them extra motivated for Friday. Leeds will not want to suffer back-to-back defeats as that will put their own chances of automatic promotion in jeopardy. Friday’s game could all come down to which side can handle the nerves of the occasion.