West Bromwich Albion manager Alan Pardew will remain in charge for the foreseeable future.

The board have decided that parting ways with Pardew now could leave the club in a worse position. This thinking derives mainly from the lack of genuine alternatives that could turn the club around.

With just nine games left in the season, Albion are rock bottom of the table and eight points from safety.

But an energised performance in Saturday's loss to Watford convinced Albion's Chinese owners to refrain from giving Pardew the axe.

However, if the situation becomes even more toxic with the fans over the next few weeks, Pardew could still be sacked before the end of the season.

West Brom chief Malcolm Jenkins flew to China earlier this week to meet with the club's owners. But the Express & Star report that the meeting was scheduled in advance and had nothing to do with Pardew's future.