CHRIS Brunt believes going on the defensive will be key to Albion’s prospects of survival.

The captain has been impressed with the values brought to Albion’s survival push by recently-appointed boss Roy Hodgson.

The ex-Liverpool and Fulham manager has made Albion’s leaky defence the top priority.

And although the Baggies have yet to keep a clean sheet since September, Brunt is seeing signs of improvement.

He feels Hodgson’s contribution, certainly in terms of what they do to stop goals, will go a long way to ensuring survival.

“We’ve been doing more defensive work as a team, not just as a back four and goalkeeper,” said Brunt, who was yesterday at the NIA promoting the club’s Premier League 4 Sport (PL4S) scheme.

“It’s made us harder to break down and although we’re still conceding goals we are at least restricting teams to very few chances.