West Bromwich Albion boss Sam Allardyce wishes he had been given greater backing during his time at Everton.

The 66-year-old, who faces the Toffees on Thursday, was sacked at the end of the 2017-18 season after guiding them away from relegation trouble to eighth.

Allardyce's replacement Marco Silva spent almost £200m across two summers and also took Everton to eighth.

Allardyce said: "I would have liked to have stayed and had the investment they have had since."

The former England manager replaced Ronald Koeman at Everton in November 2017 with the club 13th in the Premier League - after caretaker manager David Unsworth had moved them out of the relegation zone during his time in charge - and left in May 2018.

The veteran boss took his first managerial role since his spell at Goodison when he was appointed West Brom boss in December.

The Baggies are his eighth Premier League team but his record of never having been relegated from the top flight is in danger, with the Midlands club one place off the bottom of the table, nine points behind 17th-placed Newcastle.

Recalling his time at Everton, where he won 10 of his 26 matches, Allardyce said: "I would have liked to have seen where I could have taken it.

"I went there when they were struggling badly, rocking on the bottom of Premier League, and finished eighth. No-one at Everton expected that.

"In the end, they made the decision to move me on. I won't comment on whether they got it right. There have been more managers since I have been there and they have got it going in the direction they want to go - but it has taken a long time.

"As time goes by, as disappointed as you might be, you learn to accept it. I had the privilege of being there, even though it was only for a short period of time and I wanted it to be longer."
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