Why James Morrison won’t be ‘picky’ in hunt for West Brom improvements

Boss James Morrison jested he will not be “picky” in the hunt for more Albion clean sheets after a rare shutout last time out.

Last weekend’s impressive 3-0 home victory over Millwall to sign off for the international break was just a third clean sheet in 17 games in all competitions for Morrison’s men this term.

It is perhaps a surprising statistic given the eye-catching nature of Albion’s start to the season, just a point off the summit in the Championship.

The Baggies have won big plaudits from an exciting, attacking brand of football under club legend Morrison, with some claiming it the most exciting watch for more than a decade.

“I’m not getting picky!” Morrison smiled. “But of course, yes.

“You want perfection, don’t you?

“I love clean sheets, and I demand it. But it’s the demanding of how hard they work for each other, I couldn’t ask for any more.

“I bet the fans ... it’s what they want to see.

“I’ll try to drum that in, about clean sheets. But they are desperate for clean sheets, Nat (Phillips), Meps (Chris Mepham), Max (O’Leary), they will push on the others.”

Morrison would ideally like more shutouts in the bid for “perfection”, but Albion’s goals against record of 15 from 15 league games is only bettered by leaders Birmingham City (14). Albion goalkeeper Max O’Leary remains the Championship goalkeeper with the best statistics for the ‘goals prevented’ metric - at 7.57 goals prevented - in the division after several notable saves, underlining his fine form.

Albion’s boss said in the wake of the victory over the Lions that his class of 2026/27 are thriving through sheer work rate and energy and are in the Championship’s top three for distance covered in games, regularly outrunning opposition.

He added his side are working much harder than the much-loved title-winning outfit he played in under Tony Mowbray in 2007/08.

The head coach has also been reluctant to get carried away with a bright first third of the league campaign and knows how much of a test lies ahead in the Championship.

Morrison has a relatively small squad to operate with and barely a handful of injuries has forced him to include under-21 players Matty Crowther - who made his debut with a late cameo against Millwall - Alfie Maughan and Rio Parmar in recent weeks.

“It was nice for Matty Crowther to get some minutes,” he added. “We had Alfie Maughan on the bench.

“So there are under-21s there playing their part. We’ve only got four injuries.

“It’s just relentless, isn’t it? Next one, next one. I’m always apprehensive of taking my foot off the gas.

“When you get a bit too confident in football it can show you different ways. You can see how tight the league is. You can find yourself 10th if you lose a couple of games.

“That’s the excitement of the Championship. I’m just asking for consistency with everything we do.”