Carlos Corberán insists the players’ “competitiveness, commitment and effort” is a big reason why they’ve rocketed up the Sky Bet Championship table.
Albion have risen from 23rd in the standings to ninth and just one point outside the play-off positions since the Spaniard has been at the club, largely thanks to a run of eight wins in nine league matches.
The Baggies travel to Luton Town on Saturday afternoon (ko 3pm) knowing another victory could lift them above the Hatters and into the top six – a position which not many would’ve thought achievable in such a short amount of time back in early November.
And the boss is a firm believer that everything positive starts with being competitive and says when Albion show certain attributes, they’re a “very competitive team”.
Carlos said: “I am someone that is always watching what happened in the past rather than looking too far into the future. I do this because I think we can learn a lot from certain situations that have already happened.
“The expectation here has always been the same, but at one point this season the club was in the relegation zone.
“Knowing that we were in the relegation zone and trying to give our best every game has helped us climb out of it and up the table.
“For me, the important thing is to use the past to help us in the future. The past tells us that when we produce the highest level of commitment and when we play with a lot of effort, we are a very competitive team.
“The more competitive you are, the more football games you are going to win. The more games you win, the better position you are going to be in in the table.
“Everything starts from being competitive. We are competitive when we are focused on a game-by-game basis and when we are showing the highest possible level of commitment.”
Saturday’s hosts Luton are hoping to qualify for the play-offs for the second consecutive season having been beaten by Corberán’s Huddersfield Town in the semi-final last term.
Only goal difference is keeping the Hatters outside of the top six ahead of kick-off at Kenilworth Road.
Rob Edwards’s men are enjoying a nine-game unbeaten run in front of their own supporters, last losing at home in early September.
And Corberán says he’s preparing his players for a “demanding” fixture.
“We know that there’s only one point between ourselves and Luton, but they have played one game less than us.
“We know that they are very strong at their stadium. I think they have only lost two league games there all season, which tells you a lot about the type of test we are facing on Saturday.
“We know how difficult it is going to be. It’s good to know these things though because then we can’t be surprised with what we come up against.
“I am expecting a very demanding game against another very competitive team. We need to step out onto the pitch with the necessary levels of hard work and commitment if we’re going to get a positive result.
“Every game is important to us and I always watch every game in the same way in terms of the value of three points.
“I watch every game as a single opportunity to add three points to our tally. It’s our target every single time we step out onto the pitch.
“We’ve had a whole week to prepare for the game this weekend, which is something we’ve not really had over the festive period.
“The week has given us the opportunity to get plenty of work in with the players and this is always important because it gives us more time to replicate what we are expecting to happen in the next game.
“It doesn’t mean anything at the end, but it allows us to go to Luton fully prepared and knowing what type of contest we are going to have down there.”
