James Morrison has encouraged Albion to be “courageous” with and without the ball and show “personality” and “quality” when they take on Oxford United on Saturday afternoon (ko 3pm).
The Baggies, sat 21st in the Sky Bet Championship table, face the second-bottom U’s at the Kassam Stadium in what is undoubtedly a crucial clash for both clubs.
Morrison is no stranger to leading the senior side. He’s unbeaten in three games when taking charge – drawing with Cardiff City and beating Luton Town at the end of the 2024/25 term, before going on to guide Albion to a penalty shootout triumph over Swansea City in the Emirates FA Cup back in January.
The 39-year-old insists he’ll do the best job he possibly can for the club he “cares deeply” about and hopes the players produce a performance the sold-out away end can be proud of.
Morrison said: “We got to pick ourselves up and go again and that’s on me, the staff and the players. We’re completely focused on the job ahead.
“I’ve been asked to do a job and I’m going to do the job as best as I can for this football club that I care deeply about. I want us to get out of trouble as quickly as possible. That’s what I’m focused on and we’ve had two good days. We’re ready for the task ahead.
“We’ve delivered the messaging to the players and they’ve taken it on well. We’ve only had two days to do that, so there’s been a lot of meetings followed up by trying to deliver that all on the training pitches.
“We only played a couple of days ago and we’ve had to be mindful of that, so there’s been plenty of videos and meetings, as well as the necessary work on the training pitch.
“The players are well-prepared. We’re heading down to Oxford and they’re fighting to stay in the division so we have to make sure we compete. The players have to be tactically aware of what we’ve asked of them, and then they need to deliver it.
“They also need to show personality. I want the players to be confident on the ball and I want us to attack. We need to win games, and to do that, we need to have more crosses and more shots. I want the players to show the fans that in the final third we can create and score goals.
“Our supporters pay their money and follow us, so I want them to be excited and to be proud of a team which is fighting and showcasing quality. The main messaging going into this weekend is to show courage, bravery, personality and quality. It’s not just about tackling, heading and putting bodies on the line, it’s about being brave and courageous on the ball in the right areas and in the right moments too.
“We have to be clinical because this game is all about fine margins. Over the season, we haven’t been on the right side of the fine margins.
“We’re all aware of what the situation is and I thank the fans for their support so far this season, but I’m really not surprised to see that they are there every single week. They’ve shown they are with the team and with the club. We’re all together in that. It’s up to us to give them something to cheer about.”
