West Brom's heroic players paid rich tribute to boss Bryan Robson after completing their astonishing survival mission at The Hawthorns.

The Baggies completed their new year revival by beating Portsmouth 2-0 and results elsewhere made them the first Premiership side to stay up having been bottom at Christmas.

Substitute Geoff Horsfield and midfielder Kieran Richardson grabbed the priceless second-half goals - but Charlton's Jon Fortune was the star of the day as his late equaliser at The Valley kept Albion up.

Defender Paul Robinson hailed his side's successful survival mission and admitted he thought they were dead and buried at Christmas.

Robinson admitted: "The lads were all down in the dumps and it is very difficult when you are at the bottom and everyone is writing you off.

"But the credit goes to the manager and (assistant) Nigel Pearson for keeping us together, putting in a lot of team spirit and making sure we did a fantastic job."

Midfielder Jonathan Greening added: "Since our embarrassing displays at Christmas the gaffer has pulled us together and the team spirit has been amazing."

Robson called his survival achievement the greatest moment of his distinguished career after being drenched in champagne by his jubilant players.

The former United captain had witnessed an extraordinary day in which the tension was shattered when Horsfield forced home his side's opener in the 59th minute.

By the time Richardson swept home Albion's deserved second in the 75th minute the result had become a foregone conclusion - and it was clear results elsewhere would decide the Baggies' fate.

The game ended amid amazing scenes with more home fans watching the TV-equipped executive boxes for news than events on the pitch.

And after an agonising wait for a minute, news of the final whistle at Charlton - where Crystal Palace were held 2-2 and went down - sparked jubilation as fans swamped the pitch and carried the players off shoulder-high.

The ex-England internaional said: "This is the best and the reason I say that is when you are at Man United you are expected to win championships and trophies because you are playing with great players.

"There is no expectation whatsoever here apart from expecting us to go down, so that made it very difficult for us.

"But the players have responded and kept battling no matter what the circumstances, so that is great credit to all the players."

So while Norwich, Palace and the Saints experience the agony of relegation, Bryan Robson's boys can bask in the glory of Premiership football next season.

i didnt think that he would get the job at the beggining but he did and congratulations to him. I thought that because he got bradford relegated but i suppose the experience with middlesborough was neede and it worked and i hope they stay up next season and not to be a one hit wonder and consolidate their position like charlton and Bolton and birmingham have done

Well firstly, before he got the job I thought he was poo, and when he got it I did write them off. After a dreadfull start to his Brummie career, I again wrote them off. But the way he turned them around is absoleutely awsome. I still dotn really rate him but yeah, he done a good job !

Personally, I was glad that the Baggies managed to stay up, they've been in rock bottom position for most of the season and their win yesterday was a great fight against the odd.

Well done!

I have always thought Robbo was a decent manager. The problem he had was he was thrown in the deep end at a young age, which made things difficult. Some managers can handle it and achieve amazing things, others take time to learn the trade. I think Robbo has kept his chin up, head held high, and come into the job knowing that fans and pundits alike were all against him becoming manager. He knew what was being said, but not once did he rise to the bait. He let his players do all the talking on the pitch, and that right there, is a sign of a good manager. He didnt only keep them up, he did it with them playing some great football too.

Im not really happy about this as i wanted palace to stay up but i cant fault the magnificnt job that Robson has done for the Baggies this year, he inherited a team of no-hopers with little or no chance of staying in the top division and he totally transformed them, basically overnight into a team that is capable of satying up, HATS OFF TO ROBBO!!!