West Brom boss Steve Bruce says there is "too much to do" for his side to reach the Championship play-offs this season.
The Baggies are set to visit Nottingham Forest on Monday afternoon knowing that they cannot afford to slip up in their last-ditch push for the play-offs. Should West Brom be beaten by Forest - and results elsewhere go against them - they will require a near perfect set of results and almighty capitulations from teams around them in order to finish in the top six.
Bruce's side very nearly had to settle for a point against Blackpool on Friday until Karlan Grant's second-half stoppage-time winner snatched all three points.
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But the former Newcastle United boss admits it is too little too late for his side to make a late claim for the Championship play-offs.
"It’s unbelievable," Bruce said. "It's what if. We're going to ask that all the time, what if. Who knows? I think we've got too much to do, but it's big game on Monday (away to Forest), though. There's frustration for everybody to see, so it's what if, but not to be."
Bruce continued to admit that he had not been surprised by the number of top teams who started the Easter double-header with surprise results.
Forest were beaten 1-0 at Luton Town in the early kick-off clash between two play-off hopefuls; meanwhile, Fulham (1st), Sheffield United (6th) Blackburn Rovers (8th) were all beaten and Bournemouth (2nd) played out a 0-0 draw with Middlesbrough.
Bruce said: "Do you know something? I’ll tell you, when the daffodils come up, when squeaky bum time comes, out or whatever you want to call it, you see strange results, especially.
"The hardest thing in football is to get over the line, and all sorts of nerves come into it. All of a sudden the pitches are a bit lively, the sunshine’s out. It’s always the most difficult part to get it done, and all the teams, I think, are having a wobble. It's pretty normal that."
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