West Brom can make quick return says Mowbray

West Brom were tipped to make a swift return to the Premier League if they fail in their relegation battle, manager Tony Mowbray insisted on Tuesday.

“If we go down we will be strong next year. If we keep people like (Jonathan) Greening, (Robert) Koren, (James) Morrison, (Marc-Antoine) Fortune and (Jonas) Olsson, I believe we would be strong in the Championship,” said Mowbray.

The Baggies, seven points off the safety zone with only six games remaining, look doomed after just one season in the top flight.

Mowbray though suggested his side could play their way out of the Championship.

“Hopefully we could come back with a good crop of players who have been through this experience this year and know what it takes.

“Also hopefully I would be a coach, who understands the league better, understands the quality of the opposition and knows what it takes to win games.”

Greening has already indicated that he will be willing to stay at West Brom if they go down and to sign a new contract.

But on-loan Arsenal striker Jay Simpson has made it clear he wants to return to the Emirates Stadium in the summer rather than extend his stay at the Hawthorns.

Mowbray admits that relegation will be a blow to the progress he feels the club have been making over the past couple of seasons.

He said: “The disappointment is, that if we drop out of this league, we are going to lose a little bit of the progress we’ve made.

“I feel if we could stay in this league, it would be so much better next year because we would be able to add one or two quality players and go to places and let teams know they’re in a real match.”