Tony Mowbray hopes West Brom’s new central defensive partnership of Jonas Olsson and Shelton Martis will finally cut out the soft goals which have left the Baggies struggling for Barclays Premier League survival.

Olsson and debutant Martis appeared together for the first time at West Ham on Monday night as Albion earned a goalless draw after conceding 17 goals in their previous six Premier games.

Now West Brom have back-to-back home games, with Bolton tomorrow and then Stoke, which will be pivotal to their chances of staying in the top flight.

Mowbray said: “After the clean sheet at Upton Park, I would suggest Jonas and Shelton have to be the men in possession of the places.

“As we have found out in the past, they must concentrate 100 per cent for 90 minutes and not give soft goals away.

“Teams in the Premier League will score goals against us because they have got top strikers, but what has frustrated and disappointed me for the past few months is that a lot of the goals conceded have been of our own making.

“They have been down to lapses in concentration and our failure to to defend certain situations.

“I go and watch loads of games in the Premier League and I see defenders doing their jobs, heading and putting their foot in.

“We haven’t been able to do that recently – but on Monday at West Ham we did. Now we need to build on it.”

Martis had a loan spell at Doncaster earlier in the season, four clean sheets following in five games, and Mowbray is optimistic he can develop into a top player.

The Baggies boss said: “I thought it was about time Shelton had a chance.

“He is quick, tall, can pass the ball, and is strong. We are just trying to develop his mentality. Once that is right, he has every chance of being a top player.”

Mowbray is aware of how crucial the next couple of weeks will be to Albion’s already slim hopes of staying in the top flight.

He said: “If you look at the next three games, with Bolton and Stoke and Portsmouth, we’ve got to genuinely believe if we get it right on the day we can accrue enough points to give ourselves a realistic chance of getting back into the pack.

“You’ve got to keep believing – and I think the team do.”