MX23RW : Saturday, November 16 16:07:21| >> :600:498372:498372:

Chris Brunt: "Time is running out for me in my career"

Chris Brunt:
© Reuters
The midfielder won promotion with West Brom in 2008 and 2010.

West Brom captain Chris Brunt admits time is running out for a dream Premier League swansong.

The 34-year-old is chasing his third promotion with the Baggies, and fourth of his career, this month.

Albion head to local rivals Aston Villa for their Sky Bet Championship play-off semi-final first leg on Saturday after finishing fourth.

Brunt has been at the Hawthorns for 12 years and knows he will not get many more chances for glory.

"I'd say so unless somebody gives me a new set of legs," said the Northern Ireland international.

"I am not daft. I know time is running out for me in my career and if we could get promoted at West Brom, over my time here, it would be one of the things I'd look back on when I finish and be most proud of.

"Last season was a difficult season and his one was always going to be difficult given that in Portugal back in June we only had 10 or 12 first-team players.

"To get to this stage now and still have a chance of getting promoted, if we could do that it would be a fantastic achievement.

"There are ups and downs and let's hope this season ends on a massive high."

Darren Moore was sacked in March after automatic promotion slipped out of reach. Jimmy Shan was placed in temporary charge before taking over until the end of the season after the Baggies failed to tempt Alex Neil from Preston.

Albion finished four points ahead of Villa in the table, but ahead of the derby double-header Brunt knows victory is not guaranteed.

"Promotion would be a fantastic achievement for everyone involved. It's not been an easy season by any stretch of the imagination," he said.

"It would be one of the best feelings I've experienced in football.

"But it's not as easy as that. You need to come out on top of Villa over two games and there's no guarantees even then.

"You've got two weeks just waiting to play at Wembley and let's hope we get the chance to do that but it's difficult to jump that far ahead."

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Nick Mashiter, Press Association Sport');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '642400a4-6429-49ac-b773-ab0bbc6af8d4');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:club-news,paservice:sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Time running out for Brunt\u2019s Premier League swansong'});

ID:358745: cacheID:358745:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:4368:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Aston Villa manager Dean Smith watches his cat do a whoopsie on his beret on April 22, 2019
Read Next:
Dean Smith: 'West Brom favourites over Aston Villa'
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Sunderland1594225111431
2Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd1510321971231
3Leeds UnitedLeeds158522491529
4Burnley157621861227
5West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom15672169725
6Watford158162322125
7Middlesbrough157352317624
8Millwall156541813523
9Blackburn RoversBlackburn156451917222
10Bristol City155732019122
11Swansea CitySwansea155461110119
12Derby CountyDerby155461919019
13Stoke CityStoke155461819-119
14Norwich CityNorwich154652322118
15Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds155371725-818
16Oxford UnitedOxford Utd154561718-117
17Coventry CityCoventry154472021-116
18Plymouth ArgylePlymouth154471526-1116
19Hull City153661620-415
20Preston North EndPreston153661523-815
21Luton TownLuton154381726-915
22Cardiff CityCardiff154381423-915
23Portsmouth152671628-1212
24Queens Park RangersQPR151771225-1310


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!