SIMON Grayson feels his squad have already shown their spirit, character and desire this season and is adamant they will continue to do so, following the 3-1 defeat to West Brom last night.

Many people had written off the Seasiders chances of staying in the division before the season started, but with four games to go the team have more than silenced some of those critics.

Last night was just another example of how Pool can compete with some of the so-called bigger teams in the division, prior to the 81^st minute Kevin Phillips penalty that changed the game.

The Seasiders dominated the first half against the promotion favourites and could so easily have won the game on another night.

Despite going down to three goals in the final nine minutes of the game the manager feels there are positives to take from the fixture.

He said: "It was just a strange, strange evening really. I thought first half we were outstanding, created a lot of chances, got the goal, we hit the bar, things didn't quite drop for us - and never really looked threatened against a team that have obviously gone top of the division.

"Goals always change games. Second goals are always massive in any games and we couldn't get the second one, and they got the next one with a controversial penalty.

"I've not seen it and I wouldn't know if it was one or not but it looked a little bit soft at the time and it obviously gave them a lift and deflated us a bit, but we've got to take a lot of positives from how we played," he added.

Four games remain with Pool on 50 points, four clear of the relegation zone and a decent goal difference compared to some of the other sides, and Grayson believes many teams below Pool would love to swap positions.

"We're still in a good position in the league - I'm sure one or two of the teams below us would like to swap with us. All we do now is we move on to the next one, and if it doesn't happen at Cardiff, we move on to the Sheffield Wednesday one.

"I think they've (the players) shown the spirit and the character and desire to prove people wrong all season and that started at the first game of the season at Leicester," he added.

YOU CAN LISTEN TO THE MANAGER'S POST MATCH THOUGHTS FROM THE WEST BROM GAME ON TANGERINE WORLD.