West Bromwich still five wins from safety, admits Carson

The goalkeeper Scott Carson believes West Bromwich Albion need five wins from their last eight games to have a chance of achieving Premier League survival.

The Baggies are currently seven points adrift of safety ahead of Saturday's match against their fellow strugglers Stoke at The Hawthorns.

But Carson is desperate to avoid a repeat of two years ago when he went down from the top flight with Charlton while on loan from Liverpool. He said: "I've been through it before at Charlton. I've had the experience and it is not a nice feeling, getting relegated.

"I've just been trying to help the lads and tell them what it's like and we are doing our best to keep in the Premier League. You try to keep going. We're going to need four or five wins to stay up but stranger things have happened. We will continue to work as hard as we have been and just hoping we get a bit of luck."

Carson also backed the defender Paul Robinson, who called on the players to show more heart and commitment in a recent emotional outburst before the game with West Ham. Carson said: "Paul is a player who plays with his heart on his sleeve. He just wants everyone to show the same commitment as him. I've got no problem with that. The lads have got a lot of respect for him... It's a good dressing room to be in.

"I wasn't here for the 'Great Escape' of four or five years ago but the lads who were, like Robbo and Jonathan Greening, said it was a great experience. It would be nice for the rest of the lads to share the experience by doing it again this season."

West Bromwich's West Midlands rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers, who are top of the Championship and hoping to secure promotion to the Premier League, have been rocked by the news that winger Michael Kightly has been ruled out for the rest of the season after suffering a broken metatarsal.

The 23-year-old incurred the foot injury in Tuesday's behind-closed-doors friendly with Shrewsbury in which goals from Kyel Reid (two), Marlon Harewood and George Friend gave Wolves a 4-1 win.

Explaining his injury, Kightly said: "I jumped over the goalkeeper and just landed awkwardly. It's the sort of challenge you go in for, day in day out, in training or in a game but obviously it just wasn't my day. The toe has got to be pinned and I will have to have an operation. I am absolutely gutted. To miss the last six games when we're in the position we're in is the worst thing that could happen."