Alan Pardew targets 'three or four' wins from season-defining six game burst

Saturday’s demoralising defeat to Southampton has left the Baggies four points adrift at the bottom of the Premier League with just a dozen games to go.

Next up is a trip to play Chelsea at the Bridge, but following that Albion face Huddersfield, Watford, Leicester, Bournemouth, Burnley and Swansea.

Pardew reckons the Baggies are going to have to win at least 50 per cent of those matches to stay up ahead of a daunting last five fixtures that includes clashes with Manchester United, Liverpool and Spurs.

“It’s four points (to safety)," said Pardew. "You only need two wins and you’ll be out of it but we know the next game (against Chelsea) will be tricky and the games after that will be where our season lies.

"We’re going to have to win three, maybe four of those games and if we can do that we might not find ourselves in the relegation zone. It’s that tight, we’ll have to wait and see.”

The Baggies are also still in the FA Cup, and they welcome Southampton back to The Hawthorns in a week and a half for a fifth round clash.

Pardew has pedigree in the competition and has vowed to take it seriously, despite the team’s perilous league position. Saturday’s defeat to the Saints in the league has not changed his mind.

“I don’t know if that will affect us that much because we are week to week,” he said. “If we had a midweek game before maybe it would but I don’t think so, no.”

Before that game though, is a crucial match at Stamford Bridge, where the Baggies have picked up a couple of 2-2 draws in their last four trips.

Defender Gareth McAuley is expected to keep the captain’s armband in Jonny Evans’s absence.

He said: “If you look back we've done well there in recent years and we've got to believe we can go there with a game plan, stick to it and come away with something because the games are running out and we need to put some points on the board.”