Tony Pulis was left annoyed by “complacency talk” after West Brom were humbled at home by Crystal Palace.
Puis claimed his West Brom side had “no spark” after losing 2-0 at home. He bemoaned Albion’s performance after his side had gone into the game in good form and __with 40 points on the board and looking for a fifth successive home win.
Superb second-half goals from Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend earned Palace a victory over their former manager at The Hawthorns.
Pulis said: “We were tepid right from the beginning, there was no spark. We needed someone to give us that bit of a lift in what was always going to be a tight game.
“I don’t think any of our players have played to the level they could have. Our players have been fantastic so far, so I put it down to one of those games. If I knew why, I’d be a genius.”
Pulis is currently involved in a legal dispute __with Palace but insisted the loss did not hurt more because of matters off the pitch.
He said: “I hold my head up high for what I did at Palace, irrespective of all the stuff that is going on. I had eight months there and they were in dire straits. I have nothing to be ashamed of.
“It hurt because it was a home game more than anything else, because our home form has been so good.”
Pulis was taunted by the visiting fans but that did not bother him.
He said: “That’s the game, that’s life. I have no problems with it.”
Asked whether his side were guilty of switching off mentally after reaching the 40-point mark. he added: “Complacency is the most annoying word in dictionary.
“It is human nature to switch off a little bit sometimes. People are people – sometimes they have good days, sometimes they have bad days.”