West Brom v Southampton: Home atmosphere so important - Albion boss

James Morrison has placed much emphasis on home atmospheres of late.

He felt it went against his Albion side at rivals Wolves at Molineux in September, where the home crowd got on top and the Baggies were unable to respond.

And then, on Saturday, Morrison hailed the Baggies’ handling of the big stage at West Ham’s London Stadium in front of more than 61,000.

Albion turned the impatient London crowd against their troops with a swashbuckling and stylish display - and amid faint home boos home boos was the euphoric glee from 3,000 in the away end.

The Baggies return to The Hawthorns, more than two weeks on from a dramatic last-gasp comeback victory against Blackburn. That day the home crowd understandably felt some jitters after a woeful first 15 minutes.

This time Morrison wants things upbeat from the off - and he knows that responsibility lies with his players, as well as those in the stands.

"I think that's really important, how you generate the atmosphere at home. It can be a massive part in home grounds,” Morrison said.

"I think we've got to be on the front foot again, aggressive. I watched Sheffield United on Friday night and they were aggressive and the crowd gets up, that's how we want our team to look.

"We've got to go from Blackburn last time, where we started slow and gave ourselves a mountain to climb. We've got to score early and get the first goal. We also need to be patient - when it comes, it comes.

"But defensively we've got to have that structure that did us well on Saturday.”

Morrison labelled fifth-placed Southampton two of the division’s top three sides.

Tonda Eckert’s team trail the high-flying Baggies by one place and one point - though Saints would be second were it not for their four-point deduction to begin the season due to the ‘Spygate’ scandal.

Southampton - kicked out of the play-offs last term - are unbeaten in five with four wins, with just one league defeat since the opening day. They saw off an exciting QPR side 4-1 at St Mary’s on Saturday and, like the Baggies, won at West Ham the previous weekend.

Eckert was full of praise for how Morrison has developed his side this season. The Saints are set to have midfielder Flynn Downes (ankle) fit to feature, but striker Cyle Larin (hamstring) is a doubt.

Morrison, meanwhile, is focused on balancing Albion excitement versus expectation after a wonderful start of seven wins from 13.

"I want that excitement for the football club again and the fans,” he said.

"Especially with last season in mind, so I welcome it.

"We just have to try to tone it down in the best way. I think it might spur us on to keep performing like we do.

"We've set a standard that we can't drop from. The result at Preston can highlight it - the expectation of us, everyone thought we'd turn up and win, but it's not the case in this division, we can see how tough it is.

"I'm trying to drum it home to the lads that we need to keep working and let the fans be happy and have the belief and excitement.

"That's what I wanted. The fans to come with excitement, getting out of bed and looking forward to coming to watch West Brom again.”