Tony Pulis: 'West Bromwich Albion job tougher than Crystal Palace'

Tony Pulis has admitted that the expectations are higher at West Bromwich Albion than when he took charge of Crystal Palace last season.

The Welshman, who led Palace to an 11th-placed finish last term, was appointed at The Hawthorns earlier this month, after the Baggies parted company with Alan Irvine.

He told BBC Sport: "The expectations are much more intense here. They have been in the Premier League for a number of years, but if you take your foot off the pedal you can get stung.

"There's a lot of work to be done. It's the shortest period of the season left that I've ever stepped into a club. We only have three weeks of the window left so in some respects it's really tougher than Crystal Palace.

"I had six to eight weeks there to look at the side and see the players I needed to improve. We're looking at a few new players and a few positions. The squad needs it and the chairman knows that. But the most important thing is to bring in people that are better than what we have got. I don't want to sign players that are of a similar quality."

West Brom won their first Premier League match under Pulis yesterday by beating Hull City 1-0 courtesy of Saido Berahino's strike.