West Bromwich Albion manager Alan Pardew expected to hold onto job at the Hawthorns for immediate future

Credit: PA

Under-fire West Brom boss Alan Pardew is expected to hang on to his job for now as the club continue to review their situation.

The 56-year-old is under increasing pressure with the Baggies set to be relegated from the Premier League.

The former Crystal Palace chief had said he would speak to the owners - and that they may want to sack him - following Saturday's 4-1 home defeat to Leicester, the Baggies' seventh-straight loss.

Conversations have taken place over the weekend and are expected to continue with the managerial situation at The Hawthorns an increasingly fluid one.

Press Association Sport understands Albion feel there are a lack of current viable alternatives and there is little point changing manager when relegation is virtually certain.

Even if he does see out the season, Pardew is unlikely to be at The Hawthorns beyond that despite signing a two-and-a-half year deal in November.

Albion are looking for a long-term strategy and feel more managers would be available in the summer.

Leicester assistant boss Michael Appleton, who played for Albion between 2001 and 2003 and was briefly caretaker manager in 2011, would be a candidate.

Owner Lai Guochuan (left) is unlikely to make a change before the end of the season. Credit: PA

Whoever comes in would have to lift the club following a disastrous season where they have only won three league matches.

Pardew has won just once in 16 top-flight games since replacing Tony Pulis and Albion are bottom of the table, eight points from the safety line.

His reign has also suffered due to a number of off-field discipline issues, including a flashpoint in Spain last month.

Jonny Evans, Jake Livermore, Gareth Barry and Boaz Myhill were forced to apologise after they allegedly stole a taxi while with the club on a break in Barcelona in February.

Grzegorz Krychowiak also refused to shake the manager's hand after he was substituted on Saturday while Chris Brunt was reportedly involved in a dressing-room row with Pardew and the squad after last month's defeat to Huddersfield.

But Pardew insisted he would not quit and told the players they needed to fight after criticising the way they folded in the second half against Leicester.