Club News

Boss: I knew we had it in us

Clarke always had faith in his side's ability to win at The Hawthorns

STEVE Clarke has revealed he always believed his side could win their opening four home fixtures - following this afternoon’s 3-2 victory over QPR at The Hawthorns. 

Albion had not opened a top-flight campaign with four consecutive home triumphs for 93 years – but wins over Liverpool, Everton, Reading and the R's mean the Baggies' current crop are now following in the footsteps of Fred Everiss’ league champions of 1919/20.

And the 49-year-old head coach insists he has been positive regarding Albion’s prospects on home turf ever since his appointment in June.  

“I knew I was coming into a good group of players and I knew they were comfortable in the Premier League,” said Clarke.

“I looked at the matches coming up and I felt that with the strength of the team from last year, and getting the right people into the club, which I think we’ve managed to do, we could it.

"It all means I’m not over-surprised.

“I’m delighted because 14 points is a great return from the first seven games.

“I knew we’d be competitive in all the games we’ve played.

“We won’t get carried away though.

“We’ve said right from the start we approach every game the same.

“The next game we have the champions Manchester City here – that’s a tough game for us – and we’ll look forward to it after the international break.

“We’re not getting ahead of ourselves.

“We know what our primary objective is and we’re firmly focused on that at the moment – to ensure another season in the Barclays Premier League.

“That’s got to be the bottom line for the majority of the clubs in the league.

“We have to chase that first.

“The quicker we get to that the quicker we can start to look and see maybe where we can get to.

“We look to consolidate and look to improve.

“At the very start, which seems like a hell of a long time ago, I spoke in June about the target of 50 points.

“But we’re still a long way from that.”