Graham Potter is confident that the work that has been done during the break in Premier League action will help his side in the run-in.
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal arrive tomorrow for the first of nine remaining matches in the 2019/20 season, and the Albion boss says he’s happy with how the team have prepared for their first game since 7th March.
He said, “You can only focus on what you can control, but we’ve adapted to every situation as well as we can, we’ve done as well as we can professionally and we feel as though we have used the time well.
“We’ve prepared well and used the time to analyse what we’ve done and planned so there are no excuses. We know the competition and now we’re looking forward to it.”
MA+ members & STH only - Log-in required
Log-in required
Potter stressed the importance squad depth and rotation will play during a hectic spell of nine games in five weeks.
“The chances of players playing 90 minutes for every one of the nine games is close to impossible,” he said.
“But the players are professional. They know it’s about being ready whatever their role is and whether it’s 90 from the start, 60 or 30 from the bench.
“Whether it’s the last ten minutes, the last five minutes or two seconds, they have to be ready to play and help the team the best way you can.”
Albion will be searching for their first win of the year against the Gunners, who lost 3-0 to Manchester City on Wednesday in their first match since the resumption.
“We hope the break will have done us good, but unless you play well and fight and do everything you can to try to win, whatever advantages you’ve got make no difference,” added Potter.
“Arsenal are certainly not going to say ‘that’s what happened a few months ago so here’s a good start for you’ - we have to earn the right to win the game.
“We know results haven’t been what we’d like, but we have only lost three games in that time [since the start of 2020] so the margins have been quite small.
“That’s just the nature of the competition in the Premier League, it’s not easy to win matches in this division - that’s a fact.
“But we know if we play well, do the things we are good at, stick together and fight then we’ve got a chance and we’ll do our best to do that.”