Ardiles then left to manage Tottenham Hotspur, and his assistant Keith Burkinshaw took over. Albion survived relegation back to Division Two at the end of 1993–94, but only because they had scored more goals than rivals, Birmingham City. Safety was assured on the final day thanks to a 1–0 win over Portsmouth – Lee Aschcroft's goal sending the 10,000 strong army of fans in raptures. Burkinshaw sacked the following autumn, and replaced by Alan Buckley. Albion's form under Buckley was consistently below average, but just enough to avoid relegation. In October 1995 they were second in Division One and hopeful of automatic promotion, but then came a 14-match winless run. By the end of January, they looked set to be relegated to Division Two, but a big improvement in form afterwards saw them climb to mid table. Later during the season, the club signed Richard Sneekes from Bolton, who helped the club to avoid relegation.