West Brom have to believe they can stay up: Matt Phillips

LONDON: Matt Phillips insists West Brom must believe they can beat the drop after finally hitting form.

Albion kept their slim survival hopes alive with an impressive 3-0 win over Southampton on Monday.

Phillips added to Matheus Pereira’s penalty while Callum Robinson settled the game in the second half at The Hawthorns.

It came after last week’s 5-2 win at Chelsea and the Baggies are eight points from safety with seven Premier League games left, the first of which is a trip to Leicester on April 22.

“We have to believe we can do it and there’s no lack of belief in the changing room,” winger Phillips told the club’s official site.

“The players, the management staff have got to keep doing what we’re doing, keep working hard and take the confidence from the Chelsea win and today’s one into our next game.

“We knew we had to pick up back-to-back wins. Especially with Newcastle picking up points at the weekend, but this win keeps us going and we’ve got to look to the next game now.

“I think we thoroughly deserved the three points. We played some brilliant football against a very good Southampton side and on another day we could have scored plenty more.

“We have to keep focusing on ourselves and ignore what’s going on around us. I think everything has been falling into place for us recently as a team. It’d taken us a while and longer than we would’ve wanted but confidence is building and we’ve got to continue.”

The Baggies were denied a fourth-minute opener after Mbaye Diagne headed in and was ruled offside, with VAR sticking with the original decision because officials at Stockley Park could not find the angle to prove the striker’s upper body was on or offside.

Southampton were poor throughout and James Ward-Prowse’s injury-time penalty was saved by Sam Johnstone.

They face Leicester in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley on Sunday and remain 14th in the Premier League.