Alex Palmer opens up on West Brom "craving"

Academy graduate Palmer, 28, has been an ever-present since Carlos Corberan took charge two years ago and is a reliable presence between the sticks for the Baggies.

In his first full season as Albion No.1 last season, Kidderminster-born Palmer helped Albion to the fringes of the Premier League, as Corberan's men fell short in the play-off semi-final against eventual winners Southampton.

It was a eye-catching season for Palmer who grabbed the Championship's golden glove for most clean sheets, a gong he had to share with Leeds' Illan Meslier.

A significant summer turnover at The Hawthorns featuring numerous exits and 11 new recruits as seen the squad grow closer, insists Palmer, as the Baggies aim to go a couple better than last season.

“We’re putting decent performances together at the moment, we’re taking our chances and being defensively solid, we’ve got the balance right at the moment it seems,” Palmer told SportsBoom.com

“The clean sheets are really pleasing, as a group we like to be solid, and I think you’ve probably seen that over the last two and a half seasons.

“First and foremost, the gaffer likes us to be solid because we’ve got that quality at the other end of the pitch where we’re score goals.”

Palmer added: “We’re craving to do it (get promotion) this season. With the group we’ve got, and all the coaching staff, it would be an incredible achievement.

“We’re a close-knit group. We were last season to be fair, but I think even more so this year.

“One hundred per cent it’s going to a tough test (to get promoted), but every year we say we don’t know what the Championship is going to be like. Although we know anyone can beat anyone on their day.

“It (the league) changes all the time, so that’s why getting off to such a good start is so important.”

Despite 11 new faces checking in over the summer only defender Torbjorn Heggem has so far been a regular in Corberan's starting line-up.

Albion's strong Championship start of five wins from six was checked in the week prior to the international break. Corberan's side have an opportunity to get back on the horse at newly-promoted Oxford, who are mid-table, tomorrow.

Palmer, a popular figure and one of Corberan's leaders, has enjoyed another strong start to the campaign with five clean sheets from nine, currently second in the divisional ranking.

The goalkeeper explained that falling short to Southampton, who clinched promotion by downing Leeds, has fired up the Baggies.

Albion went down 3-1 at St Mary's in May's second leg, with a late Adam Armstrong double deciding the contest.

“What happened last season has given us a lot of drive this season, we want to be in those top two positions,” Palmer said

“The play-offs are tough, looking back at that Southampton game it was very even when we played them at home.

“But we can all safely say that Southampton were the only team who really got us the better of us in the course of the whole season.

“It made it slightly easier for us to go ‘well, look, this is the level we need to get too’.

“We weren’t up to that level, and it gives us more motivation this season to hopefully be pushing the last two and become stronger as a result.”