DUGOUT DUEL...Robson and Benitez patrol their technical areas

BRYAN Robson is hoping the added pressure of relegation rivals Portsmouth and Blues closing the gap on Albion will prompt a positive response from his players - starting at Villa on Sunday.

The Baggies' 2-0 defeat by Liverpool - courtesy of first-half goals from Robbie Fowler and Djibril Cisse - means only a superior goal difference prevented them from dropping into the relegation zone for the first time in six months.

Earlier in the day, Portsmouth, who have a game in hand, secured a third straight win with a 3-1 victory at Fulham to draw level on points with the Hawthorns outfit.

And Blues moved within two points of Albion thanks to a goalless draw with champions Chelsea ahead of their own game in hand against Bolton at St Andrew's on Tuesday (7.45pm).

When asked whether Portsmouth and Blues' results had put extra pressure on Albion ahead of the Liverpool game, Robson said: "It doesn't matter about the pressure of what other people do.

"We had all that last year when we played after other teams had had certain results.

"It's up to the players to concentrate on their own game.

"It's all about getting results yourself and we haven't won enough games to put any pressure on the other two teams.

"Now Portsmouth and Birmingham are right next to us, maybe the added pressure will make my players respond.

"Maybe they have just been hoping to get something because results have been going well for us and we've been out of the relegation positions.

"The harsh reality has now come that we're going to be in the relegation zone if we don't do something about it."

TV replays later confirmed the Baggies boss' suspicion former England striker Fowler was offside for the Reds' first goal.

Robson also felt Albion should have been awarded a penalty in the dying minutes when Liverpool midfielder Momo Sissoko appeared to handle inside the box.

However, he refused to use those key decisions as an excuse for Albion's third successive defeat by top-four opposition.

And he insisted his players let themselves down with a poor first-half showing.

"The first goal was offside - there is no doubt about it," Robson added.

"Having said that, in the build-up to it, we had great possession of the ball and Joe Kamara should be turning out and attacking Liverpool.

"But we gave the ball away dead cheaply and they cut through us.

"There is no doubt in my mind Robbie was offside.

"We definitely should have had a penalty in the last few minutes and for the referee to give a free-kick for a push by our player, when it was a definite handball, was the easy way out.

"We never seem to get decisions like that.

"But that's no excuse for the way we played in the first half because we were absolutely hopeless on the ball.

"We didn't pass and there was no conviction in our play whatsoever.

"That's why you get beaten in games against top teams like Liverpool."

Robson believes Albion got their just desserts against Liverpool.

But that hasn't neccesarily been the case in other recent games, particularly against Chelsea, Blues and Tottenham.

"When you have a run of games where you're playing the top teams you're going to get a performance that isn't quite so good," added Robson.

"But what concerns you as a manager is when you perform well and don't get results because what happens when you do play badly - and we played badly in the first 45 minutes."

The Albion chief sensed an air of nervousness about his players from the start.

And it was not until the second half they managed to take a foothold in the game, after Robson replaced Kamara with Zoltan Gera at the break.

"We looked nervous right from the kick-off when the ball went back to Curits Davies and Fowler got a block on it," Robson insisted.

"We didn't recover from that in the first half.

"Our composure and possession were really poor. You can't afford to be playing like that when you're facing a team like Liverpool.

"The players were in a good enough mood going into the game.

"But it's all right talking a good game - you have to go out there and do it on the pitch.

"For the first time in quite a few weeks, the performance level wasn't there in the first half.

"I can give credit to my players for having a go in the second half.

"But the only bonus from the game was when Gera came on.

"He had a couple of great strikes and put a couple of really good crosses in."