Preston North End manager Alex Neil knows his side will have to be at the top of their game as they head to The Hawthorns on Tuesday night to face the Championship leaders.
The Lilywhites’ boss spoke to iFollow PNE ahead of the clash with Slaven Bilic’s West Bromwich Albion and expressed how difficult a task his side faced.
“It is going to be a tough game,” said the gaffer. “They have got quality players. They have added really well in January as well and we know it will be a tough match, especially with what is at stake for both teams.
“It is always a difficult place to go and we are going to have to go there and play very well.
“Knowing Callum [Robinson], he will being his utmost – as he does in every game – and it will be nice to see him, but he will being doing a job for West Brom and we have a job to do for us and we want to go and do the best we can and try and win the game.
“It will be a bit of a blow for them [losing Romaine Sawyers], he is a guy who drops out and builds for them a lot and they will need to fine a solution for that, but they have a lot of options.
“We can’t worry about that too much, we just have to worry about how we are going to go and play and do the best we can.”
The last two clashes with the Baggies have brought frustration, for different reasons and have given the PNE boss as idea of what will be required to get a result this time around.
“It was frustrating [to lose in December],” he continued. “I watched the game back the other day to refresh my memory and, to be honest, we didn’t move the ball that well in the first half, but limited a very good team to very little chances, only to be undone by the penalty that proved not to be a penalty, but that is part and parcel of football.
“That game is done now, but what we can do is to take confidence from how well we played that night and hopefully try and take that into this game.
“Last season’s game [at The Hawthorns] was bizarre – the whole situation was something I have not been involved in and it was something out of my control, so it wasn’t good.
“They turned up on the day and wanted to put a show on, our players and fans were a bit bewildered by the situation and I don’t think we did ourselves justice that day.
“I am glad that is gone and out of the way and we can concentrate on trying to get the win.”
But he feels that this time around, it is a chance for his players to play with the confidence gained from their recent run of results.
“It is a good opportunity. They know what is at stake for them, but equally we have our own ambitions that we need to try and fulfil.
“We need to go there and be confident. We have to have a strong mentality and make sure we have an arrogance and a confidence that we are going to get something from the game.
“We can’t go there and be intimidated by the atmosphere – it is going to be an important game.
“We have put in some fantastic performances away from home and we need to put another together, because they have been the best team in the league so far and we have to go there and try and impose ourselves on the game,” he added.