Tony Mowbray says there has been a sense of excitement around the training ground over the last few days as his team prepare to host Sheffield Wednesday.
The Owls visit The Hawthorns this Saturday (ko 12:30pm) in an enticing Sky Bet Championship clash between two sides hunting for a top six finish.
And the boss revealed morale around Albion HQ has been boosted by a sensational end to the January transfer window, where the club recruited striker Adam Armstrong alongside attacking midfielder Tammer Bany on deadline day, as well as Will Lankshear only a few days earlier.
“I think the playing staff were excited by the end of the transfer window” explained Tony. “Adam coming into the building created a lot of that I think.
“Tammer is exciting as well. I’ve just met him this morning. I’ve obviously seen clips of him and what he does on the pitch, so I know what type of footballer he is.
“He’s a very engaging and nice young man and he’s looking forward to getting started. I think he’s probably a week or two away yet, he’s been doing pre-season with Randers as his previous league runs at a different time to us.
“I’m looking forward to working with him and I obviously know Adam very well from my time with Blackburn Rovers and Coventry City. He scored a lot of goals at both of those clubs for me and he trained yesterday and looked very sharp.
“I think Adam just wanted to come and help us be successful. Score some goals under a coach who he knows well and it’s pleasing. I hope he just wants to rekindle that and get that feeling.
“Will’s quality looks really good, I’d say Premier League quality with how sharp he is with the ball and his finishing is very clean.
“Let’s hope that competition drives the standards and determination to be the ones to get into the team and the starting line-up. You can never have enough good strikers, that keeps them sharp and makes them want to score every game.”
Josh Griffiths also returned from a loan spell earlier this week after Alex Palmer departed the Baggies - leaving Mowbray with a decision to make on the No.1 spot.
“We talk about the goalkeepers that are here now, there’s some great pedigree there," said the boss. "Josh is really highly thought of and has had a successful loan at Bristol Rovers, and Joe won the Golden Glove in League One last year.
“We shouldn’t be overly concerned about the goalkeepers, because there’s some real competition for Alex’s role. Let’s see who manages to grab that number one shirt at the start of next season.
“Whoever gets the start from tomorrow, they’ve got that opportunity to grasp it. Hopefully they won’t have too many saves to make, but if they do the basics well, there’s a chance to keep rolling.
“Obviously if that doesn’t happen, there’s someone else there champing at the bit to play and get that opportunity for themselves.
“I’m happy to have them compete with each other and I know that despite being good friends that it’ll be healthy to have that competition, which should help the club with players giving their best every day."
Visitors Wednesday currently occupy 10th spot in the Championship table - two points behind sixth-placed Albion - and Tony is under no illusions regarding the strength of their opponents.
He added: “It’s a tough game for us, we know that. I watched them at Middlesbrough, they were 3-0 down at half-time and within 14 minutes of the second half the manager changed the formation and they were back to 3-3.
“I think I read somewhere that they have the fifth best away record in the division, so we need to be at our best. We need to play with confidence and belief, know that we’re at home and have the fans behind us. Let’s see if we can get somewhere close to the last home performance and pick up the three points.
“This division is going to fluctuate week after week. You see Middlesbrough getting beat, Blackburn getting beat a couple of days later, but then we also lost at Plymouth.
"It cramps everything up. All the teams in mid-table or just below are only a couple of points behind and will think they could challenge for the top six.
“We have to use the quality we’ve got and the players we’ve got to find some consistency over our remaining fixtures to make sure we get enough points, starting tomorrow. It is a tough game, they have a good away record, good players and a very talented coach who can change games.
“But this is West Bromwich Albion, this is The Hawthorns and we need to make life uncomfortable for them and try and dominate to get the three points.”