Slaven Bilic has urged his West Brom side to kick on after the Baggies clinched their first win of the Premier League season last time out.
West Brom host Crystal Palace – who will have Wilfried Zaha back after his coronavirus-enforced absence – on Sunday, on the back of a valuable 1-0 victory over fellow strugglers Sheffield United.
With the table so tight, another win for West Brom would take to within four points of Palace, who sit in 15th place with 13 points from their 10 matches, and Bilic is desperate to make it a winning run.
"That is what I told the boys. We were allowed to be proud and enjoy the Sheffield United win," he said. "But now we are asking even more because we have shown we can do it. It's not hopeless, we can do it. It hasn't been hopeless, look at the last few games against those big guns. We showed what we can do but we didn't get any rewards. But we kept a good atmosphere and good work ethic and good energy in the group.
"This win should make it go up again, so we are going to be more demanding. We don't want to lose this opportunity to hopefully keep this momentum going."
Palace boss Hodgson, meanwhile, is returning to one of his former clubs.
"I have a great deal of affection for the club. I have been very fortunate in that all the clubs I've worked with in England I have a lot of affection for," he said. "I found myself taking charge of a very responsive group of players, just like I have here at Crystal Palace and Fulham and Blackburn before. So I was fortunate with that as well, and luckily we got some results."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
West Brom – Karlan Grant
After scoring on his second appearance in the league for West Brom, Grant has failed to find the net in his last four games, but his pace and finishing ability could prove a real threat to Palace's defence.
Crystal Palace – Vicente Guaita
Guaita was in superb form for Palace last term but, in 10 league appearances this season, he has kept just one clean sheet – on the opening day, in a win over Southampton. In a game unlikely to yield too many goals, he could be crucial to securing a result for the Eagles.
KEY OPTA FACTS
• West Brom have lost just one of their six Premier League home games against Palace (W2 D3), going down 0-2 in March 2017.
• West Brom have the lowest expected goals total so far in the Premier League this season (5.9); indeed, 43 per cent of their goals have come from outside the box, the highest ratio in the competition in 2020-21.
• In their last Premier League campaign in 2017-18, West Brom failed to win any of their seven league matches played in December, drawing four and losing three. No team has ever played more games in a specific month of a single Premier League campaign without a win.
• Palace have the oldest average starting XI in the Premier League this season (29 years, 132 days). Indeed, Roy Hodgson has named the nine oldest starting lineups in the competition this term, with their last game against Newcastle the oldest so far (30y 182d).
• Hodgson has won 10 of his 24 Premier League matches against sides he's previously taken charge of in the competition – only Harry Redknapp and Sam Allardyce (11 each) have won more such games.
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