Jimmy Shan wants West Brom fans to help take home form into play-offs

Shan won his fifth straight game at The Hawthorns at the weekend with a 2-1 win over Rotherham United he admitted was 'ugly'.

There was even a smattering of boos at half-time when the score was goalless after a tepid first period, but Shan was pleased with the atmosphere in the second half.

Albion's final game of the season is this Sunday away at Derby County, and following that the Baggies will be in a two-legged play-off semi-final with one leg destined to be at The Hawthorns.

And Shan has issued an early rallying cry to the supporters ahead of that match as he tries to keep up his 100 per cent record at home.

"It’s a nice record," he said. "People with experience tell me it’s good when you can win ugly and we did that.

"We didn't perform, but the character, resilience and that little fightback was there. We probably got our tails up a bit after going behind.

"It’s very important taking that record into the play-offs. It will be one that we look forward to and is exciting for the fans.

"We’ve done well in terms of results at The Hawthorns in the last five games.

"Once we got the equaliser the level of the atmosphere increased, the fans got behind us and they need to understand how appreciative we are when they get behind them team and are that 12th man."

There is always the possibility the play-offs could go to extra-time and penalties, and on Saturday Jay Rodriguez made it eight successful penalties out of nine for him this season.

"He’s very competent from that distance," said Shan. "He practices them. It’s not a one-off that Jay has taken a penalty and scored.

"He’s always practising, he probably takes 15 a week. He refines that technique and is a competent finisher from that distance."

With the game on Sunday, Albion don't return for training until tomorrow, when Michael Appleton will be in for his first day on Shan's coaching team.

"Michael will be in on Tuesday," confirmed Shan. "We’ve got the Rotherham game to review and the game to look forward to against Derby.

"Michael will be invaluable in terms of being that person with emotional detachment who can look at it from a different lens and can offer advice where we can some small margins and percentages.

"That could ultimately make the difference between getting promoted back to the Premier League or not."