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Baggies may have to battle against relegation

As a Manchester United player, Bryan Robson was a hero at Old Trafford. As manager of West Bromwich Albion, he will be in despair on his return today if the Red Devils relegate his team from the Premier League.

The game kicks off after today's other Premier League matches, so Robson's players may go into the game knowing they will be demoted if they lose.

What would make it worse is that Robson, who won several league and cup titles as Manchester United captain, would complete a hat trick of relegations. In recent seasons, both Middlesbrough and Bradford were demoted from their respective divisions while he was in charge.

While Chelsea will receive the Premier League trophy before its home game against Charlton today, the most crucial action with two rounds of games left is down at the bottom.

Four teams are striving to avoid being the three who go down. Last-place Norwich hosts Birmingham and two of the relegation contenders, Crystal Palace and Southampton, face each other. If either Palace or Saints win, West Brom will go down if it loses at Old Trafford.

It doesn't look promising.

Since he quit playing to become a manager, Robson has a poor record against Manchester United. His only victory in 11 meetings was as manager of Middlesbrough and he has lost eight times.

But he hasn't given up hope.

"The last thing you want is people going about with sad faces and no enthusiasm," he said Thursday. "It is completely the opposite. The players know they are in a real dogfight down at the bottom of the league but it's enjoyable going into training.

"We have got to rely on other people's result but it's what we do in the final two games."

Robson's team finishes with a home game against lowly Portsmouth.

With Manchester United trying to snatch second spot from Arsenal, Alex Ferguson won't make it easy for his former captain.

Manchester United cruised to a 4-0 victory at Charlton last week but are four points behind the Gunners. They will cut that to one by beating West Brom and pressuring the Gunners, who host Champions League finalist Liverpool tomorrow.

Both Manchester United and Arsenal have three games to go. Manchester United hosts Chelsea and then visits Southampton, while the Gunners welcome Everton before visiting Birmingham. After that, they meet in the May 21 FA Cup final.

Today's other games, Aston Villa hosts Manchester City, Blackburn welcomes Fulham, Newcastle goes to fourth-place Everton, Tottenham visits Middlesbrough and Portsmouth receives Bolton.

Sunderland is already sure to replace one of the relegated teams by returning to the top flight after two seasons.

Now it's between Wigan and Ipswich for the other automatic promotion spot from the Football League Championship, with the final round of games tomorrow.

Wigan, which has never been in the top flight, has a home game against a Reading side trying to capture a place in the promotion playoffs. Ipswich visits Brighton, which needs a point to make sure of avoiding the drop into League One.

The Football Association said Thursday that the top four finishers in the English Premier League will enter next season's Champions League.

That means Liverpool, currently fifth, may not be able to defend the title if it beats AC Milan in the final on May 25 in Istanbul, Turkey, unless it persuades UEFA to allow five English teams to enter.

That seems unlikely, although the FA said it would back Liverpool's case.

Liverpool is in the final for the first time in 20 years and there has been pressure on the FA to consider dropping fourth-place Everton if its neighbor wins the European title for the fifth time.

But that was considered unfair for Everton, which has been solid in fourth place all season, and the English federation issued a statement Thursday saying the team would not be dropped. Everton will join Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United, assuming it stays in fourth.

"The FA confirmed today that the top four teams in the Premiership at the end of the season will enter next seasons UEFA Champions League," the FA said in a statement. "This will not be changed whatever the outcome of Liverpool's Champions League Final in Istanbul on 25 May.

"However, the FA also believes that, if Liverpool win in Istanbul and do not finish in the top four in the Premiership, an extra place should be allocated to them in the Champions League next season," the statement said. "This is ultimately a matter for UEFA, but the FA will continue to make representations on this issue at the highest level."

UEFA president Lennart Johansson said Sunday there was a chance soccer's European body might change its regulations to accommodate Liverpool if it won the title.
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