Sam Baldock is right to say Albion deserve to be in the Premier League.

Andre Gray would be too if he said the same thing about Burnley, likewise Jordan Rhodes at Middlesbrough.

You do not always get what you deserve but I'm hoping the three teams locked together at the top of an absorbing Championship promotion race will all by May 28 be looking forward to trips to stadiums called King Power and Liberty next season, not New York and Madjeski.

The obvious justification is they have been the outstanding teams over the last nine months.

They are ten points clear of Hull and Derby in fourth and fifth, an incredible 20 ahead of Cardiff, who still have a chance of stealing the final spot in the play-offs from Sheffield Wednesday.

Albion could end up with 91 points and not go up.

That would be cruel enough in itself, even harder to stomach if Sheffield Wednesday or Cardiff, who they would face in the semi-finals of the play-offs, were promoted with 72 points.

This is plausible, since they play each other at Hillsborough on Saturday, an appetiser to the main course - Albion's final day visit to Boro.

Aside from table transparency, there is another legitimate reason for hoping Albion are joined in the Premier League by Boro and Burnley - ownership.

 

There are enough foreign owners of clubs in the Premier League already, buying an affinity rather than earning it. The imbalance will, to an extent, be redressed if the current top three in the Championship clinch a share of the riches on offer.

Anyone with even a passing interest in Albion will be familiar with the enduring association of the Bloom family, from late vice-chairman Harry through to Board member Ray and chairman Tony. It is a similar story at Middlesbrough and Burnley.

In the North-East, owner Steve Gibson is a self-made millionaire from Middlesbrough and lifelong fan.

He helped save the club from liquidation 30 years ago and has been at the helm since 1994.

In Lancashire, there is also the strong scent of tradition. Mike Garlick, chairman since last year, is Burnley-born and bred. He has been on the Board for a decade, becoming co-chairman in 2012 when Barry Kilby stepped down after a successful 13 years.

Kilby is now vice-chairman. No johnny come lately's are calling the shots at Turf Moor.

Assem Allam, Hull's Egyptian-born owner, has lived in Britain since 1968. The East Riding of Yorkshire is his adopted home and yet during his six-year reign he has demonstrated scant regard for the club's soul.

He tried to re-name them Hull City Tigers, branding just City (the club's name for 109 years) as a "lousy identity". Supporters were in uproar and Allam's proposal was rejected by the FA.

Derby, next Monday's visitors to the Amex, recently moved back into the hands of local ownership, but only after seven years controlled by a North American group.

Fan Mel Morris, part of a takeover consortium in 2006, returned as chairman last June and became the owner three months later.

He is less deserving of a seat at the top table than Bloom, Gibson or Garlick.

And what of Sheffield Wednesday and Cardiff? The Yorkshiremen have been owned since last season by Thai businessman Dejphon Chansiri, who bought the Owls from Milan Mandaric for £37.5 million.

The Welshmen are controlled by controversial Malaysian Vincent Tan. He rebranded the club from blue to red in 2012, believing it would bring them luck.

They went down from the Premier League and Tan, under pressure from fans, reverted back to blue halfway through last season.

The Premier League has enough American sports franchise collectors, Arab billionaires and oligarchs.

A promotion clean sweep of clubs owned locally and governed from the heart will help even up the score.