Carlos Corberán says Saturday’s battle with Stoke City at the bet365 Stadium is a clash between two teams who are “fighting” to achieve important targets.
The Baggies, sat fifth in the Sky Bet Championship with six games remaining, have their sights set on securing a victory in Staffordshire which would give their play-off hopes a huge boost.
The Potters, on the other hand, are determined to drag themselves further away from the danger zone having picked up a win and a draw over the Easter weekend.
Stephen Schumacher’s side head into the encounter in 18th place, five points clear of the bottom three.
Corberán believes league positions mean nothing when it comes to one-off fixtures towards the closing stages of a campaign, insisting every team will be “competing at their best” owing to the level of “respect” football is shown in England.
He said: “To be honest with you, I don’t think it matters the position of the teams we still have to play between now and the end of the season.
“I think this because of a few reasons. First of all, because of the level of respect for football in this country. Every game in the Championship is always a challenge, no matter who the opponents are.
“In this country, football means a lot for the people. You can play teams who are fighting for promotion, fighting to stay in the league or sat in the middle of the table. Regardless, all of the stadiums are going to be full and full of people who are going to be competing at their best level.
“It's positive and negative for some clubs to be playing for nothing more than giving their best for their fans. Other clubs are playing for promotion or survival.
“Some players thrive under the pressure, but there are also others who play better when the circumstances are a little bit more relaxed.
“At the same time, when you are fighting for something like both teams are on Saturday – we’re fighting for the play-off positions and Stoke are fighting to stay in the Championship – the level of competitiveness and intensity is going to be the maximum.
“As I say, both are fighting for something so it’s impossible to relax.
“Every game matters in this country. It’s different here compared to other countries. Football means so much to everyone here.
“We have got games against teams who are fighting at the top and teams who are fighting to stay up. We have the same amount of respect for every opponent and we know every single one of our six remaining games is going to be a massive challenge.”
Specifically talking about Saturday’s opponents Stoke City, Carlos added: “Stoke City are one team who are a good team, in a bad position.
“When you come up against Stoke, you always have to prepare to face the very best version of Stoke City, and the best version of them is a very good team with very good players.
“They were very active in the summer market and brought many new players to the club. Sometimes, in football, things don’t always go how you would like them too, but what is clear, is that they have some very good players who will come up against us on Saturday.
“Their manager took Plymouth from League One to the Championship and you can see similarities between that Plymouth team and this Stoke team in terms of the way they play.
“We know this is an important fixture for both clubs and we have to be at our best and give everything to try to achieve the result we want to achieve.”
