In Focus: The greatest Premier League escapes

Wolves fans will get the present that no one wants this Christmas — the knowledge that their club is bottom of the Premier League.

With the English top-flight season set to resume on Boxing Day, Southampton and Nottingham Forest also find themselves in the relegation zone and plotting a rescue mission. 

The Christmas TV schedules often include a reshowing of The Great Escape, but the teams in the relegation zone do not need to look to Hollywood for inspiration. 

There have been plenty of seemingly doomed sides that have ultimately survived and we are going to take a nostalgic look back at the greatest escape acts.

West Brom (2004-05)

If Wolves need encouragement they only have to look to West Brom in the 2004-05 season when the Baggies became the first Premier League team to be bottom at Christmas and still stay up.

The club started the campaign under Gary Megson, who was sacked after his team only won one of their first ten games. 

Former player Bryan Robson was recruited to save West Brom, but the arrival of Captain Marvel did not spark an immediate turnaround. The first Premier League win came 12 games after his appointment. 

As late as March, the Baggies were still eight points from safety, but Robson’s men beat Portsmouth on the final day to survive by a single point. 

It was only their sixth win of the season, with West Brom's 16 draws providing vital extra points to help them stay up. 

Sunderland (2013-14)

Another club that made a dreadful start to the season were Sunderland in the 2013-14 campaign. 

The Black Cats only earned one point from their first eight games, which led to Paolo Di Canio being sacked and replaced with Guy Poyet. 

There were encouraging signs when the Uruguayan was first appointed as Sunderland won two of his first four games. 

Yet a period between February and April in which Poyet’s team only took two points from a possible 27, looked to have sealed their relegation. 

Somehow, Sunderland won four of their last five games, which included away victories at Chelsea and Manchester United. 

They were able to lose the last match of the season against Swansea and still finish 14th, five points clear of the drop zone. 

Fulham (2007-08)

Sunderland had followed in the footsteps of Fulham in winning four of their last five games to survive. 

The Cottagers only picked up three points eight times all season. Two came under Lawrie Sanchez before he was sacked In December and replaced by Roy Hodgson. 

In their 36th Premier League game and with only two matches remaining, the Cottagers found themselves 2-0 down at Manchester City and six points away from safety. 

An unlikely comeback in which Diomansy Kamara scored a stoppage-time winner to make it 3-2, saw Fulham fight on.

They then beat Birmingham to set up a final-day showdown with Portsmouth in which they would survive with a win. 

Danny Murphy headed home in the 76th minute to seal a 1-0 victory that saw Hodgson’s team stay up on goal difference. 

Portsmouth (2005-06)

You will have noticed that a key component of these great escape stories is a change in manager. In the 2005-06 season, Portsmouth turned to their very own version of Harry Houdini. 

Under Alain Perrin, Pompey only won two of their first 13 matches before the Frenchman was sacked. 

Harry Redknapp then returned to the club in controversial circumstances, having left to join bitter rivals Southampton the year before. 

Redknapp’s return did not see instant results. Portsmouth won just two of their first 13 games under their new manager, picking up even fewer points than with Perrin.

With ten games left, Portsmouth were eight points adrift. A stoppage-time winner at Manchester City sparked a revival, with the South Coast outfit winning six and drawing two of those final ten games to survive by a four-point margin. 

Leicester (2014-15)

We end with Leicester’s miraculous rescue mission from 2015. An script so great that it inspired a sequel. 

The promoted side looked likely to go straight back down. After 29 games they were bottom of the Premier League and seven points away from safety. 

Leicester kept faith with Nigel Pearson, the manager that had won them promotion. 

He repaid this confidence by inspiring the team to claim 22 points from a possible 27, which saw the Foxes finish in a comfortable 14th position, six points clear of the relegation places. 

Pearson was sacked in the summer and replaced by Claudio Ranieri, who led Leicester to an improbable title win the following season. 

Yet as amazing as this achievement was, it wouldn’t have been possible without Pearson’s heroics.