West Brom boss Roy Hodgson is prepared for "anxiety" at The Hawthorns as his team look to improve on their poor home record against Swansea. The Baggies have picked up just eight points from a possible 33 on their own pitch, but former Fulham manager Hodgson is trusting his players will not have that run on their minds.
"I hope not," he said. "There will be anxiety. The crowd, when they come to watch you play at home, they come to watch you win and if you don't win you disappoint them. "We're all aware of that, so there will be some anxiety and you can do nothing about it.
"The only way you can put it right is to win games because otherwise it becomes a bigger problem every time you step out on to your home pitch."
Hodgson hopes his team show in the Barclays Premier League clash that they have the stomach to deal with any pressure caused by playing in front of an expectant crowd.
He said: "I think there's enough quality in the team, enough experience in the team, enough spirit in the team to overcome these things.
"It would be nice to start that tomorrow but if we can't then it will have to be the next game."
Hodgson also believes there has been a fine line between success and failure for his team, and he suggests the poor home record can be attributed to carelessness. He said: "We haven't necessarily shown much worse form at home than we have done away, there haven't been vast differences in the type of performances we've been giving. "Often, the poor result has been because we've made some very, very bad mistakes at some stage in the game, which has cost us.
"All of those home defeats are by the odd goal, so we need to put that right."
Hodgson is weighing up whether to give full debuts to newcomers Liam Ridgewell and Keith Andrews. Former Birmingham defender Ridgewell has completed only one game so far in 2012 while midfielder Andrews, signed from Blackburn, has not figured since playing on loan for Ipswich on Boxing Day. Winger Jerome Thomas (calf) remains a doubt but right-back Steven Reid (ankle), striker Shane Long (digestive problem) and midfielder Paul Scharner (Achilles) are close to fitness.
Albion skipper Chris Brunt (fractured ankle) and fellow midfielder Zoltan Gera (knee) are long-term absentees. Swansea midfielder Leon Britton is hoping for a second away win of the season in the midlands, The Swans have been more of a force at home than on their travels this season, as they showed once again this week by holding Chelsea to a 1-1 draw. Their only win away from home in the league so far this season came at Aston Villa and Britton is looking to add to that on Saturday.
Britton admitted the Swansea players had been down after it looked like a strike from former Chelsea player Scott Sinclair had earned them victory against Andre Villas-Boas' side, only for a late own goal to clinch the visitors a point. That disappointment was a measure of the team's progress in their first Premier League campaign, and they head into this weekend with a nine-point cushion above the relegation zone.
Britton told the club website, www.swanseacity.net: "The changing room was very quiet after the Chelsea game, but the manager told us to keep our heads up. "It was a tale of two halves. We dominated possession and used the ball well, and the goal was a great finish from Scotty (Sinclair).
"In the second half we had to be resilient. They had a lot of the ball but Michel (Vorm) wasn't troubled much.
"So it's harder to take, but football can be a cruel game at times."
Britton has called on his team-mates to show they can bounce back from that disappointment with a good performance against the Baggies. He added: "We will get back into training and we will lift our heads up for the trip to West Brom on Saturday.
"We knew home form would be crucial in this league, but we have to pick up some away wins too."
Rodgers has to decide whether to include new signing Curtis Obeng in his squad. Highly-rated defender Obeng joined the Swans from Wrexham this week on a three-and-half-year contract for an undisclosed fee, with Daniel Alfei being loaned out to the Dragons for the rest of the season. Swansea will be without Dutch midfielder Ferrie Bodde for at least two weeks after he suffered a knee injury in a reserves game and will be assessed over possible surgery. Fellow midfielder Andrea Orlandi is out for six weeks after the Spaniard suffered a hamstring strain.
West Brom V Swansea - view commentary, squad, and statictics of the game live.
Source: PA
