10:30am Monday 15th March 2010
PAUL Robinson reckons Wanderers need just two more wins to be sure of their Premier League future.
Saturday’s impressive victory over Wigan lifted the Whites to a relatively safe mid-table position — opening up an eight-point gap over the bottom three.
With goal difference also heavily in his side’s favour, Robinson believes between four and six more points should be enough to ensure top-flight football for a 10th consecutive season.
“We probably need 36 or 38 [points] for safety,” he said. “We would be pretty comfortable with that.
“They were big results for us with West Ham and Burnley losing. They still have to play the top teams, and we have got Man United, Chelsea and Aston Villa to come.
“We know we have two of those games at home. It’s tough for people to come here and try to get a result.
“We have to be resilient and try to make it hard for any team to come here and try to get anything.”
Robinson praised the spirit shown by Wanderers after the heavy midweek defeat against Sunderland — and the defender claims the players are feeding off the enthusiasm shown both by their manager, Owen Coyle, and that from the terraces.
“A lot of teams would have crumbled after that and gone on a bad run,” he said. “But we have come out fighting and got our just rewards with a 4-0 result.
“You’d ask what has changed? It’s the manager, the atmosphere, and the players.
“The fans appreciate what type of change is going on. The manager has his own ideas but it takes time for the players to get used to the way he wants you to play.
“But as you have all seen, we seem to have got into a rhythm, team spirit is very high and you couldn’t wish for a better bunch of lads.”
The derby victory was made all the more special by Fabrice Muamba’s first goal for the club, and a return to scoring form for Johan Elmander who had been cutting a frustrating figure in recent weeks.
Kevin Davies also claimed his seventh goal of the season from the penalty spot, and Robinson paid tribute to the hard-working strikers.
“Their work-rate was phenomenal for the team and their physical presence; defenders don’t like marking them,” added the former West Brom man.
“We all know what Davo does but fans have got to appreciate and look at the work-rate that Johan does for us as a player. He works his socks off for us. He comes in and he is worn out because he does so much running.
“A lot of people see him for different reasons and feel he should be scoring a lot more goals for being a striker.
“He deserves his goal and it has been coming.”
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