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Mulumbu feeling refreshed

Image: Youssouf Mulumbu: The West Brom midfielder is ready to fight for his place against Blackburn on Saturday

Youssouf Mulumbu plans to show West Brom boss Roy Hodgson what he has been missing after being dropped for the game against Everton.

Midfielder says his batteries are recharged after a weekend off

Youssouf Mulumbu plans to show West Brom boss Roy Hodgson what he has been missing after being dropped for the game against Everton recently. The 25-year-old has been one of the key players for his club this season but was forced to sit out the 2-0 defeat at Everton on the bench. Hodgson feared the all-action midfielder was showing signs of burnout and explained he wanted to keep his star man fresh for the end of season charge for safety. And Mulumbu, who has missed only one other Premier League match for the Baggies so far this season, insists he is raring to go after his rest and is determined to fight his way back into the side to play against Blackburn on Saturday.

Disappointed

"I spoke with the gaffer and he said that maybe I needed to rest a little bit," said Mulumbu on the club's official website. "He said we need to give chances to other players like (Graham) Dorrans and (Paul) Scharner, because they haven't played as many games this year. "I was disappointed but I accept the head coach's choice. Sometimes the gaffer can feel or see something that I didn't see. "Every player wants to play every game, but you need to rest and you need to give a chance to other players. "I've worked hard this week on the training field and I hope I will play on Saturday because I want to play every game." With no win in four games West Brom are in danger of being dragged into the relegation dogfight below them.
Survival
They are eight points clear of the drop zone with seven games left so Mulumbu says no one at the club is hitting the panic button yet - but concedes a win against Blackburn would go a long way to soothing any relegation fears. "When we see the table we know that in the Premier League we haven't done enough yet," he added. "We do need to look behind us because at the moment we aren't scoring or winning. But the reality at the moment is that we need to win to guarantee survival. "And that means that if we don't win we have to look over our shoulders and secure ourselves. "We need to get back to basics and make sure we stay in the Premier League. That means we need to win on Saturday and get one more point after that. Then we will be free to see if we can finish in the top half."

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