Alan Pardew should’ve gambled on West Brom’s Oliver Burke sooner

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Oliver Burke provided a glimpse of his quality as West Bromwich Albion slipped closer to Premier League relegation.

While West Brom are still some way off being mathematically down, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to find a Baggies fan who gives Alan Pardew’s side a genuine chance of keeping themselves in the Premier League this season.

The Baggies have now lost their last seven in all competitions and that has left them eight points off safety with just eight games remaining in the campaign.

The fat lady is not yet singing by the writing appears to have been on the wall for a while, and West Brom have needed some kind of inspiration to turn their fortunes around before it becomes too late. Sadly, Alan Pardew has decided to predominantly stick with the players who have under-performed for much of the season.

He did however, make a much more encouraging selection decision ahead of Leicester City’s visit to The Hawthorns on Saturday with Oliver Burke being handed only his second league start since his £15 million summer move (via BBC Sport).

Burke has struggled since arriving at West Brom, but he vindicated Pardew’s decision on an afternoon that would quickly turn sour for the home side as he provided the assist for the game’s opening goal.

It was his excellent cross that found Salomon Rondon and the Venezuelan managed to break the deadlock before Leicester would score four times to turn the game around emphatically.

Burke may not have inspired a win, but the assist showed that Pardew made a huge mistake not giving him a chance sooner when their situation was not so desperate.

As a winger, there are going to be games where he leaves the fans tearing their hair out, but he has the natural talent to be something of a wildcard that could have made a difference, even in the games when he does look to be at his best.

If West Brom are going to pull off the most incredible of escapes, it is going to be the players such as Burke that are going to give them a lifeline in the coming weeks. The fact that Pardew has taken so long to realise will probably surprise few fans given how uninspiring his tenure has been.