Skipper Jake Livermore summoned his players to deliver the final push towards promotion as Albion prepare for Saturday’s derby clash against Birmingham City (ko 12.30pm).
“In the dressing room the boys are absolutely determined to finish the job. But no-one is going to give us anything,” warns Jake as The Hawthorns readies itself for the lunchtime showdown against Albion’s neighbours.
Memories of the first game at St Andrew’s, settled in Albion’s favour by two memorable Charlie Austin goals, are still fresh but Livermore acknowledges both teams start equal all over again at the weekend.
The clash comes after Albion’s home defeat by Wigan and a solid point at Swansea but the captain acknowledges his team mates will be out to go up another level against their Sky Bet Championship neighbours.
“The last couple of results in the league have disappointed us,” says Jake. “There are no excuses for the Wigan game but looking back now, I don’t think it was a bad point at Swansea.
“If we take one of those late chances that came our way, then you’ve almost got the perfect away performance and we’re having a completely different conversation.
“That was dropping for us at times earlier in the season and everyone went away smiling.
“Swansea made life difficult for us and it was a tough fixture. Now we’ve got another opponent who made life difficult for us in the game at their place.”
But he speaks of a dressing room that is ready for the final push and determined to seize its own destiny in the battle for promotion.
He added: “We know what we will be facing and that the league position means nothing. Teams have come to The Hawthorns, raised their game at times, and we’ve been a bit of a ‘free hit’ for them.
“But we know what we’ve got to do and what we are going to need to get us there.
“We’ve had a massive boost this week with Grady [Diangana] coming back into training with the group.
“It’s a reminder that we’ve got the players, we’ve got the quality, we’ve definitely got the drive and the mood is great. In the dressing room the boys are absolutely determined to finish the job.
“But no-one is going to give us anything. We know full well we’re going to have to get out there and grab it for ourselves. That is what we aim to do.”
