West Brom boss is pleased with La Manga bonding trip

Nov 12 2009 by Chris Lepkowski

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"When it comes to the middle and the end of the season that really can be important.

"This is the last international break for a long time now and there will be many games in November, December and January, so hopefully if we keep everybody involved we should be in the mix."

Albion were unfortunate not to get their third successive clean sheet when they conceded a late goal against Leicester.

Di Matteo claims that sorting out Albion's resilience has been one of his main briefs since coming into the club.

The Italian generally plays at least one, sometimes two, holding midfielders and has a generally settled backline.

Defensive work has paid off so far this season, he claims.

He added: "We have been working since the start of the season and even in pre-season.

"We have been working very hard on the defensive side of the team.

"But we have had a lot of changes as well with players coming in and out of the team and we have had to change things around.

"But I think slowly you can see now that the work we are doing and that we continue to do is starting to pay off.

"It helps you to win games if you manage not to concede, or at least make it difficult for the opposition to score a goal.

"It gives the whole team confidence."