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Johnstone: ‘We’ve got a big week ahead’

Sam Johnstone

Sam Johnstone says Albion are determined to pick up more Premier League victories this week as they prepare for trips to Leicester and Aston Villa.

The Baggies travel to the King Power Stadium on Thursday night (ko 8pm) before returning to action three days later for a local derby at Villa Park on Sunday (ko 7pm).

Sam Allardyce’s side head into this week’s double-header off the back of consecutive wins over Chelsea and Southampton, scoring eight goals in the process. 

And the No.1 insists impressive recent performances and results mean Albion will approach the upcoming clashes with plenty of confidence, as well as motivation.

Sam said: “We’ve had two really, really positive results and we’re desperate to build on that success.

“Our performances in both games were impressive and the lads deserve a lot of credit for digging in and producing that type of football.

“Confidence is obviously high because of the eight goals scored and six points secured, but it’s also high because we know we’ve been playing well for a while now and not just in the last two games.

“We’ve got another crucial week coming up. Every game means so much from now until the end of the season and we know every point or goal can have a big impact on the final outcome.

“Leicester are pushing for a place in the Champions League and are in need of three points because there’s a clutch of teams also chasing the top four.

“They will be on a high having won at Wembley and booked a place in the FA Cup final.

“We know how strong they are in several areas across the pitch, but we’ve proved that we can be a match for anyone when we play as well as we have done in previous matches.

“Our performances and results against the top teams in this division, especially away from home, have been good. There’s no reason why we can’t go there and get another positive result.

“The game against Aston Villa then comes around quickly. There’s not much recovery time between the Leicester game on the Thursday and then the Villa game on the Sunday, but it is what it is and we’ll give it our all.

“It’s a big seven days, but I’m confident we can continue our form and pick up more good results.

“We’ve just got to keep our focus on ourselves. There’s no point worrying about other teams or other results because we can’t have any impact on that.

“What we can have an impact on is our own performance and our own result and I’m hoping we can get two more wins this week.”

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