Darren Fletcher: We wanted to check Gareth McAuley's passport!

Gareth McAuley's Baggies team-mates wanted to check the age on his passport during pre-season last year because the evergreen defender was sprinting past them up the Austrian hills.

The 36-year-old centre-back has signed a 12-month extension on his contract, keeping him at The Hawthorns until summer 2017.

Already Albion's oldest outfield Premier League player, his fitness levels have continually impressed everyone at the club.

"Gareth doesn't look any inch the age he is," said Baggies skipper Darren Fletcher. "I experienced that in pre-season, we were going up those hills in Austria and Gareth was flying past everyone.

"A few of the lads wanted to check his passport! But that speaks volumes to how fit and dedicated he is."

Jonas Olsson also penned a new 12-month deal at the Baggies.

"Jonas is a fantastic leader and a great character around the place," said Fletcher. "He's been fantastic this season, probably played more games than he expected but that's testament to his fitness levels and his performances.

"Age is only a number and those two are the perfect examples of that."

But Fletcher was quick to point out that the two club stalwarts were not being rewarded purely for their ability to stay fit.

The Baggies captain reckons both of them have earned their deals first and foremost with steady showings on the pitch.

"You don't get contracts at clubs without your performances being good and those two lads' performances have been fantastic and they thoroughly deserve their contracts," said Fletcher.

Albion host Watford at The Hawthorns today and the Baggies skipper is gunning for all three points.

Fletcher said: "It is a big game because we've not won in three games now and after a real good performance against Man City, where we definitely should have picked up a point.

"We want to get over that 44 points which we picked up last season, that's the first target."If we can tap into anywhere near the level last week I'm sure we'll have a great chance of doing that against Watford."

Albion were unlucky not to pick up anything from the Etihad Stadium last weekend, and should have had a penalty when the score was 1-1.

"The biggest thing is there's not really that injustice over the penalty decision, it was actually how well we played and how many chances we created and how many good advanced positions we found ourselves in," said Fletcher.

"I thought it was a really good team performance on every aspect of the game, passing the ball defending, pressing, getting crosses in.

"That's the injustice really, a great performance like that didn't get a point or a victory but at the same time you've got to realise it's all about getting points

"But the more you perform like that you'll get many more points.

"That's the standard now for the rest of the season, that's the level we've got to get to in every game."