West Bromwich Albion Football Club News

• Nickname:The Baggies
• Founded:1878
• Manager:Roy Hodgson

• Ground:The Hawthorns
• Capacity:25,400

Mowbray eyes Meite boost

24 Nov 2008 - 12:43:09

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West Bromwich Albion boss Tony Mowbray believes his new-look central defensive partnership of Abdoulaye Meite and Jonas Olsson could be the foundation on which a resurgence is built.

Meite, who joined the Baggies in a £2million move from Bolton Wanderers last summer, made only his second start alongside Olsson during Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Stoke City.

The Ivory Coast defender missed nine games with a calf muscle strain but impressed Mowbray with his fledgling partnership with Olsson at the Britannia Stadium.

"The positive I'll take out of Saturday is that we were resolute," he told the club's official website. "We didn't get rolled over physically, although I never had any fears that we would.

"Hopefully, the combination of Meite and Olsson will continue to strengthen and grow now, if we can keep them both fit.

"I thought they stood up to the test very well on Saturday.

"Hopefully, that will be the building blocks for a more successful campaign than we're having at the moment."