New Poll: Is automatic promotion out of reach for Albion?

By Jemma Tappenden
January 28 2010

After Tuesday nights 1-1 draw with Ipswich Town, the doom and gloom instinct buried deep within all football fans reared its ugly head amongst Albion supporters as message boards far and wide were flooded with talk of whether automatic promotion had slipped from the grasp of Roberto Di Matteo's men. The Baggies currently occupy third spot in the Championship table.

Five points behind second placed Nottingham Forest and 8 points behind leaders Newcastle United, the Baggies will have to make up lost ground if they are to reach the automatic promotion spots. But a game in hand over Forest could see them close that gap to two points this weekend if they can get a result at the Hawthorns against Sheffield United and Forest fail to pick up any points at their East Midlands rivals Derby County.

Nottingham Forest haven't been beaten in the Championship since a 1-0 defeat at home to Blackpool on 19th September 2009. Their phenomenal run has seen them beat both Newcastle and most recently West Brom.

West Brom on the other hand have not won in the League for a month - their last victory coming against Scunthorpe United two days after Boxing Day. During this time they have failed to beat either of their fellow promotion contenders, picking up a 2-2 draw at St James' Park against Newcastle, and crashing to an embarassing 3-1 defeat at home to Nottingham Forest.

So is all the doom and gloom justified? Or is the Championship just being its normal cauldron of unpredictability? Afterall...not so long ago Arsenal were fighting an 11 point deficit in the Premier League.

Have your say on West Brom's promotion prospects by voting in our online poll. No registration required. CLICK HERE to register your vote. Poll is situated at the bottom of your screen.