"It's easier to be in the shade" - Slaven Bilic discusses West Brom and Leeds United's recent wobble

The Baggies boss had his say
West Brom head coach Slaven Bilic. (Getty)West Brom head coach Slaven Bilic. (Getty)
West Brom head coach Slaven Bilic. (Getty)

West Brom boss Slaven Bilic says it's "much easier to be in the shade" following the Baggies and Leeds United's recent struggles.

Albion and the Whites have won one game in 13 Championship outings between them which has seen the pair stutter in the race for promotion to the Premier League.

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Fulham sit three points behind Marcelo Bielsa's men having played a game more while Bilic's side are a further point ahead of Leeds.

The Baggies boss, though, believes the pressure on the top two is more intense than the chasing pack.

“There is a question we have to answer now,” he said.

“Us and Leeds. It’s much easier to be in the shade and nobody is talking about you but still I wouldn’t swap with any of the teams that are below us.

“It’s a privilege and I said to the players that we have to embrace that challenge.

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“I told them the other day: ‘Have you ever been in a relegation battle?’ I was as a player and I was as a manager and that’s tough. This is privilege. This is opportunity.

“Of course we can’t stop the media or the fans but even when the gap was 11 points there was an extremely long way to go.

“Are we enjoying this moment now? No, we are not, but it’s better it happened now than later because we have enough games to recover.”