Baggies boss Carlos Corberán insists Albion must maintain the levels of “character and personality” they’ve displayed in their opening two games in order to get a positive result at Stoke City on Saturday (ko 3pm).
The Baggies head up the M6 to the bet365 Stadium to take on the Potters having collected a victory against QPR on matchday one, before playing out a goalless draw with last season’s beaten play-off finalists Leeds United at The Hawthorns last weekend.
The hosts earned a 1-0 triumph over Coventry City in their first match, but suffered a 3-0 defeat at Watford in their most recent game – just the second loss the club have experienced in the last 11 matches in all competitions.
Corberán described Stoke as a “strong team” in his pre-match press conference and says his group must “understand” the task at hand if they’re to extend their unbeaten run at the start of the Sky Bet Championship campaign.
Carlos said: “They a strong team. They are always a club who invest in their squad in an attempt to build it.
“Stoke City this year have stabilised the coach and they were working with him in the second part of last year. They achieved the target that they had.
“He’s been working with the group throughout pre-season so that means they’ve been able to implement their ideas and consolidate them.
“Watford beat them last weekend but I think Watford have one of the strongest squads in the Championship, but at the same time, Stoke are a very strong team when they play at home.
“If you look at it, they have a good unbeaten record at home and they’ve not lost any of their last five there, stretching back to last season.
“When you play away from home in the Championship, you always know it’s going to be very difficult.
“We have to go there with our own ideas, be focused on ourselves and try and be the stronger team on the day. We have to understand the game.
“Last year we got a draw against them, but we probably didn’t even deserve the point because they were much better than us. We have to use that game to learn and use it as an example of how difficult this game can be.”
The boss went on to add: “Every game is different in this division. I liked the character of the team against QPR. I also liked the organisation in defence against Leeds last weekend.
“We need to keep growing in a way where we improve our defence and attack, without losing any single bit of the character and personality of the team.
“They are key aspects of our game. If we don’t compete on the pitch to our best level, it’s going to be very difficult.”
