Boss relishing meeting of two in-form teams at DW Stadium
STEVE Clarke believes Albion will meet a rejuvenated Wigan side at the DW Stadium on Saturday (ko 3pm).Roberto Martinez’ men had a storming finish to last term as they produced seven victories in the last nine games - including wins over Manchester United and Arsenal - to move clear of danger.
The Latics have now put a disappointing start to the season behind them with back-to-back wins over West Ham and Tottenham to move up to 13th in the table on 11 points from ten games.
And the Baggies boss feels it will be a meeting of two in-form sides, with his men riding high in fifth spot.
“In the last few games Wigan have got back to where they were towards the end of last season when they were the best team in the league.
“They play good football, have a slightly different system to most teams in the league, use it well, play it well, and the players understand their role within the team.
“We go there expecting a difficult game, but I'm sure Wigan are expecting a difficult game as well.
“I would like to think we can both go out there, put on a good footballing performance and try and get the three points.”
Clarke was delighted with the way his team responded to successive defeats by beating Southampton 2-0 on Monday.
And he admitted it confirmed to him the players will not rest on their laurels.
“I found out that the players don’t like getting beaten, they take it personally and they want to put it right,” he added.
“That was a big thing for us over the last couple of weeks.
“They didn’t sit back on the two performances and say ‘at least we played well’.
“They were disappointed to lose both games and determined to put it right on Monday.
“I’m not sure I learned that much about them because I knew they were a really honest, hardworking group that want to succeed.
“I think this just reinforced that.”