West Brom win and begin to dream of another great escape

West Bromwich Albion, who pulled off a famous escape from relegation in 2005, could be on their way to surviving in the Premier League again after beating Wigan Athletic 3-1 at The Hawthorns on Saturday.



With none of the top four teams playing apart from Liverpool, who were facing West Ham United in a later kickoff (1630 GMT), the focus was on the tight battle to avoid the drop.

West Brom stayed bottom but moved on to 31 points, the same as North-East rivals Newcastle United and Middlesbrough who meet on Monday.

Hull City, who moved up with West Brom last year, lost for the fifth successive match, beaten 2-1 at home by Stoke City who were also promoted and are now mathematically safe from relegation. Hull have 34 points, two behind Sunderland who are also deep in trouble on 36 points after drawing 0-0 at Bolton Wanderers.

Blackburn Rovers look secure on 40 points after their 2-0 win over Portsmouth, who are not yet safe on 38 points.

In the afternoon's other matches Fulham beat Aston Villa 3-1 to move up to seventh place while FA Cup finalists Everton drew 0-0 with Tottenham Hotspur at Goodison Park.