Matty's Home Belief

WINGER Matty Etherington believes Hammmers face a crucial test at home to West Bromwich Albion this Saturday.

The Baggies are out form in the Premiership, currently lying in 17th place after back-to-back League defeats against Newcastle and Bolton.

However, Bryan Robson's men have shown this season that they are more than capable of mixing it at the highest level, underlined by a 2-1 home victory against Arsenal last month.

It's a warning Matty is taking seriously.

"They did really well to survive in the Premier League last season," he explained. "They're a hard working side and we know that they will make things difficult for us on Saturday.

"But we've got a good home record going so far this season and it's something we're determined to keep going. To do well in the Premier League a solid home record is really important, and it's these kind of games against the likes of West Brom who are struggling at the wrong end of the table, that we need to be winning.

"It's going to be tough on Saturday and we'll have to work hard for the right to play our game. But the squad are confident and we believe that we can take all three points.

"We didn't have the greatest of days at Liverpool last weekend and in front of our own fans we want to put that right."

Hammers can take confidence from a strong 2-1 victory over Middlesbrough in their last game at Upton Park. It was match Alan Pardew's side dominated even if they needed a controversial goal-line decision to secure the points.

Matty knows another high-tempo performance will be needed against the Baggies.

"We deserved the victory against Middlesbrough," he added. "We were the better side against them and even though the second goal was fortunate we came off feeling that we deserved the win.

"Overall it was a good performance against Boro and that definitely gives us confidence going into the West Brom game.

"We've kept on believing in ourselves and our ability to compete at this level. We'll show similar belief on Saturday and hopefully we can keep the momentum going at home with another three points."