‘What if?’ – Steve Bruce plays down play-off chances but won’t give up hope

Steve Bruce played down West Brom’s chances of promotion despite his side moving within five points of the play-offs with a win over Blackpool.

Karlan Grant scored with virtually the last kick of the game to secure the Baggies a 2-1 win over Neil Critchley’s side at The Hawthorns.

In a game of few clear-cut chances, Andy Carroll gave West Brom a first-half lead before Marvin Ekpiteta levelled for Blackpool after the restart.

But it was the Baggies who snatched an even game right at the end when Grant fired in from close range for his 15th goal of the season.

The win – Bruce’s fourth in 13 games in charge of the Baggies – saw his side move up to 11th in the Championship table and despite the small points margin, he still feels they have a mountain to climb if they are to finish in the top six.

“The gap is five points, which is unbelievable,” Bruce said.

“It’s ‘what if?’ We are going to ask that all the time. ‘What if?’

“Who knows? In football anything can happen. But I still think we have too much to do. It’s still ‘what if?’ The frustration is there for all to see.”

West Brom saw fellow play-off hopefuls Sheffield United, Nottingham Forest, Middlesbrough and Blackburn all drop points on Good Friday.

The Baggies – who won just one of 12 Championship games from December through to February – travel to the City Ground to face Forest on Monday.

But while Bruce has played down his team’s chances, he does expect the teams above West Brom to keep dropping points.

“When the daffodils come up you start to see strange results,” the 61-year-old continued.

“The hardest thing in football is getting over the line. All sorts of nerves come into it.

“All of a sudden the pitches are a bit more lively, the sunshine is out.

“The difficult