Adam Webster is confident Albion can take the momentum we built at the end of last season into the new Premier League campaign.
The defender was on the target with a first-half header as Albion completed pre-season preparations by beating Espanyol 5-1 on Saturday.
Now it’s a week of fine-tuning on the training pitch ahead of next Sunday’s opener against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Albion rose to a club record ninth on the back of a run of just one defeat in their final nine games of last season, and Webster believes the squad are capable of continuing where they left off.
“It’s the same group of players more or less so we can take the confidence from the end of last season into this one. We’ve got a great team spirit and work ethic and we’re really looking forward to the new season,” he said.
“We have lost [Yves] Bissouma but the individual roles and responsibilities remain the same. We prepare the same way and everyone knows what they need to do on the pitch.
“The new players have settled in well too. We’ve got a good group with quite a few Spanish speakers who look after guys like Julio Enciso. It’s a step up for Deniz [Undav] and Kaoru [Mitoma] but they have shown their quality in pre-season and we’re delighted to have them. It’s been a tough pre-season but a good one and we’re looking forward to getting going next week.”
Albion’s barnstorming run at the end of last season included that stunning 4-0 win at the Amex over United. But with Erik ten Hag installed at Old Trafford Webster accepts Sunday is as tough as it gets, at a venue where Albion have never won.
“Clearly the game will be a lot different to when we beat them 4-0 in May. They have a new manager with a different philosophy and you can already see how differently they are playing from the pre-season clips we’ve seen, and how difficult it is going to be for us. Their fans will up for it as it’s the first game of the season so it’s a really tough test for us but it’s a challenge we can embrace.”
Webster was delighted to get on the scoresheet on Saturday from a set piece.
“Every time we get one, especially with the quality of delivery Pascal [Gross] put in, we fancy our chances,” he added.
“It’s something we have worked on for a while. Personnel may change but the principals stay the same because they are such a big part of the game now, especially at the top level.”