What goes up will not come straight back down if West Ham manager Alan Pardew has his way.
He leads his side into tomorrow's play-off final clash with Crystal Palace determined to buck the trend of promoted clubs being pitched into a grim struggle against relegation.
"Of course we are ready," he said. "We wouldn't be here if we weren't.
"Whatever is said after the game about whether the winning team can survive would be unfair.
"There's still a lot of time to build a club for the start of the Premiership season.
"Our job is to bridge that gap -- nobody wants to go up and be embarrassed. We want to go and achieve something."
Hammers have been made favourites to win the Cardiff clash, but the pressure is on for a club with well-documented financial problems.
And Pardew reckons Palace might be under less serious pressure to secure promotion on the day.
"There is probably more hanging on this in terms of our progress," he admitted.
Published Friday May 28, 2004
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