West Brom skipper reveals secret element to turning The Hawthorns into a fortress

West Bromwich Albion captain Dara O’Shea has revealed that the club’s supporters have given the side an extra ‘push’ to continue their impressive home form. The Baggies are unbeaten in their last 10 matches at The Hawthorns, with them only losing on one occasion at home since Carlos Corberan took charge in late October.

And the Republic of Ireland international believes that incredible run can only be put down to the club’s supporters. “Home support is massive for us,” O’Shea revealed to wba.co.uk. “We don’t underestimate that. It’s so important to have the fans backing you in games.

“It’s coming towards the end of the season now and we’re in a position where we need to keep pushing and the fans can play a massive part in that. When The Hawthorns is buzzing it gives us a huge push as a team and we can feel it as players - it helps us massively.

“We need to do what we need to do on the pitch, quite clearly, but the fans can really help us too. When everyone is pulling in the same direction it feels amazing and unstoppable. We’ll need their support and their backing in every game. When you step out onto the pitch at The Hawthorns and you can feel the energy it’s a huge push for us.

“It gives us that motivation and that drive to put in the extra yards and play really well. It’s a really important run-in now until the end of the season and we’re going to need the supporters’ backing.”

Saturday’s game against Huddersfield Town provides perfect scope for Albion to continue their rampant home run. The Terriers sit second-bottom of the Championship table having only won one of their first four games under manager Neil Warnock.

O’Shea believes the dressing room is full of confidence heading into the weekend. “There’s a really good mood within the group right now,” the defender said. “It was great to get that positive result at home the other night against Wigan. Our home form at the moment is excellent.

“It’s so important to keep that home momentum going. We can’t underestimate how good it is to go ten games unbeaten at home and how well we’ve done at The Hawthorns. It’s been a massive part of our success since the manager came to the club. We’ve been solid at home and it’s been a really hard place for teams to come to.”

Albion have only conceded three goals at home since Corberan was appointed, with two of those coming in the opening match of his reign where they lost to promotion hopefuls Sheffield United. This is something that O’Shea believes has pushed them towards the play-off places.

“To keep so many clean sheets is both really pleasing and excellent, “ O’Shea said. “We’ve only conceded one goal in those ten games and that came in the last minute against Blackburn which was really disappointing.

“Keeping several clean sheets gives the whole team a boost. Having that form behind us gives you so much confidence. As a back unit, and I include the goalkeepers in that, we’ve all really enjoyed playing at home. We’ve been winning games and keeping clean sheets.

“Saturday’s game is another one where we’re coming up against a team at the lower end of the table who’ll be fighting for their lives. We know it’ll be a tough test.

“They won’t roll over easily. We need to make sure we focus on ourselves though and play the way we want to play and not change based on the opposition.”