Tony Pulis wants a fortress for Albion

It's time to turn The Hawthorns into a fortress that the big teams hate, according to Albion head coach Tony Pulis.

When Pulis was at Stoke, getting a result at the Britannia Stadium was notoriously difficult.

Although the Welshman added steel to the Baggies away from home, their home form has been dismal this season. But Pulis says there are mitigating circumstances. Albion's opening run of home games hasn't been the easiest.

The Baggies host joint-top Arsenal today and next up is Mauricio Pochettino's vastly improved Spurs side.

Pulis has already had to contend with current league-leaders Manchester City, champions Chelsea, a resurgent Everton side, Ronald Koeman's progressive Southampton team, and high-flying Leicester.

The only visitors from the bottom half, apart from Chelsea, have been Sunderland. And it's the only home game Albion have won.

"We've played Chelsea obviously, Man City, now we're playing Arsenal," said Pulis. "The home form shows that this period [has been difficult]. Everything connected with Stoke, it was fresh, and it was new, and it was different.

"West Brom have been in the Premier League for a long time now so it is a little bit different here.

"Having said that we beat Chelsea last year at the back end of the season and they were champions elect then so we have beaten the big teams." Pulis took over in January but the manager is still trying to find a formula that works for this Albion team.

"At Stoke we had a mentality and an organisation and a discipline that was very difficult for teams to play against," he said.

"At Palace it was a different side, different team, different make-up. There was pace and power and strength out wide and we played in a different manner. Here it's different again, there's different strengths to this team, it's just about working out a system and a shape and putting things together that get you results."

Even more important is that the players believe they can win.

"Psychologically you have to make sure the players are clear," said Pulis.

"They believe that given eight or nine of them playing to their maximum and Arsenal not playing to their maximum, that they can win the game."