Albion have won plenty of plaudits for the quality of their football in the opening weeks of the new season.
But head coach Graham Potter believes defensive resilience is just as important and is pleased with how his defenders have adapted to different challenges, going back to Project Restart in June.
He said, “We accept and understand the importance of good defending and the need to work hard at it so we can compete and get a platform to play the football we want to play.
“If you look at our form post-lockdown defensively we were strong.
“We got a clean sheet at Leicester City and Norwich, a battling point against Southampton and won at Burnley which is not so easy, as there is a physical element to games against Burnley which you need to stand up to.
“This season, even in the cup games against Portsmouth and Preston when there are a lot of balls going into your box you have to stand up to teams being aggressive and trying to unsettle you.
“Then there are games such as Newcastle last week and the presence of someone like [Newcastle forward] Andy Carroll and how they use him.
“It’s a challenge for us as a squad. Obviously, every manager wants to keep clean sheets but in the Premier League where you come up against world-class players and for all your efforts sometimes that’s not possible. But I think we have a good structure defensively and players hungry to learn and improve.”
Albion have kept clean sheets in both Carabao Cup ties this season against Portsmouth [4-0] and Preston [2-0] but there will be a step up in the quality of opponent on Wednesday when Manchester United head to the Amex in the fourth round. Both sides are likely to make changes to the teams which met in the Premier League on Saturday.