West Brom manager Tony Mowbray is desperate to prove his critics wrong and pull off the most dramatic of great escapes.

But Albion's Barclays Premier League survival hopes still look bleak ahead of Sunday's trip to Manchester City.

They are seven points adrift of safety, have only won once away from home all season and are on a run of 10 league games without a victory.  But Mowbray is not about to throw in the towel and remains convinced that his team are a lot better than their position and results suggest as they go in search of the double against City.

He said: "I genuinely do not think we are a team which is adrift. We are a team which is more than capable of winning back-to-back games.

"Earlier in the season we won three out of four games in the Premier League. If we can win on Sunday then people will not be so quick to write us off."

Mowbray certainly believes the spirit is still sufficient for Albion to haul themselves out of trouble.  He added: "If you go a goal behind some teams are not united and there is some disruption and a bit of disharmony, and they fall to bits.

"But I do not see that in the Albion team. I see them keep going and they are a good set of lads who listen to what we ask them to do on the pitch.

"I've never had any qualms with them or had to work overly hard to pick them up.  No-one likes losing or being bottom of the league but they are good professionals and hard-working guys.

"If we win a game such as beating Sunderland at home next week we might well struggle out of the bottom three. I know that we have got to do it but I have the confidence and belief that we can do it.

"But we need a little bit of good fortune. Too often this season games have not gone our way possibly because we lacked the quality to stick the ball into the back of the net.

"We have missed too many chances and too many individuals have made errors which have cost vital points."

Mowbray ran the rule over City against Hamburg in the UEFA Cup on Thursday night and he was impressed by what he saw.  He added: "They gave a good account of themselves.

"They have some great players on the evidence of Thursday and they created a tremendous atmosphere in the stadium that was very well supported by the fans.

"If they reproduce the form they displayed on Thursday they will give any team a lot of problems.

"They have the second best home record in the league behind Manchester United so it will be a difficult day for us."

Albion are set to be without central defender Shelton Martis and striker Roma Bednar for a second successive game, as they struggle with groin and hamstring problems respectively.