West Bromwich Albion caretaker James Shan has a warning for Leeds, Sheffield United and Norwich

Follow us on Google Discover

Leeds United, Sheffield United and Norwich City are above West Brom in the Championship table.

West Bromwich Albion caretaker manager James Shan has issued a warning to Leeds United, Sheffield United and Norwich City, the Championship’s top three, ahead of the Baggies’ return to league action.

The West Midlanders currently sit fourth in the Championship table on 67 points, six points adrift of the Whites of Marcelo Bielsa, seven behind Chris Wilder’s second-placed Blades, and 11 behind Daniel Farke’s Canaries, with just eight games left of the regular campaign.

However, West Brom will be one of the first two second-tier sides in action on matchday 39 as they welcome Birmingham City to the Hawthorns on Friday night, giving them the potential to crank up the pressure on Leeds, Sheff Utd and Norwich, who play on Saturday.

With the business end of the Championship season approaching, the potential for teams to leapfrog one another remains high, given there aren’t that many big point gaps, and on their day, any team can get a result, making for an exciting – if nerve-wracking – end to the campaign.

In conversation with Sky Sports News, Shan said he would be “looking over my shoulder” were he one of the three teams above them in the league, given the Baggies are on the hunt for a third win in a row.

“It gives us the potential to be within four points, which is a massive psychological edge,” said Shan. “If I was one of the teams above us I would be looking over my shoulder at a side with three wins from three and real momentum.

“You’ve only got to look at the recent form guide in the Championship, because it throws up some strange results. A team can be on a winning streak then suddenly lose their next three. We have eight games left and if we take care of our own business we can put ourselves in a position to rival an automatic promotion push.”

After the game between WBA and Birmingham, Saturday will see Leeds face Millwall, Sheffield United host Bristol City, and Norwich hosted by Middlesbrough, the latter kicking off at 5:30pm.