James Morrison has challenged his group of players to back up their “positive” result at Sheffield United on Saturday by adding more points to their tally on Wednesday night.
Albion, who drew 1-1 with the Blades at Bramall Lane, take on Southampton under the lights at The Hawthorns in what is the first of two home fixtures before the end of the week.
The Baggies are going in search of a victory which could give their survival hopes a big boost, with visitors Saints on the hunt for a triumph which might push them closer to the top six of the Sky Bet Championship.
The side from the south coast arrive in the West Midlands on a ten-game unbeaten run and on the back of a 1-0 success at Premier League Fulham in the fifth round of the Emirates FA Cup.
Morrison says his squad face another stern test, but insists Albion are confident they can deliver the necessary showing to secure vital points.
He said: “Southampton are in good form and are unbeaten in 10 games. They’re coming into the game on the back of a great result away from home at a Premier League side in the FA Cup, so we know their confidence will be high.
“They’re an aggressive team and they’ve got good individual players. They’ll come and press us and they’re a ball-orientated team – they love to have possession. We have to respect that, but we’re also going to try and get at them.
“We know we’ve got another challenge ahead of us, but we’re treating every game now as a game that we can win. We’re ready.
“We’ve got to back Saturday’s result up with another positive one on Wednesday. I’ve been challenging the players to get us one positive result to get the ball rolling. We got that on Saturday, so it’s up to us to back that up.
“Crucially, we’re going to need our home form to be good in this final part of the season and we have two home games coming up in a short space of time. We know what we have to do.
“We’re the home team and it’s up to us to put on a positive performance. We’re confident we can do that.”
