Steve Clarke has the quality to keep on flying high at West Bromwich Albion

Ben Foster: West Bromwich’s goalkeeper is ‘comfortable’ after surgery on a groin injury (Getty Images)

The West Bromwich Albion manager Steve Clarke prepares for the visit of his former club Chelsea to The Hawthorns on Saturday convinced that his squad is strong enough to continue riding high in the Premier League.

At Wigan on Saturday, Clarke took the brave step of dropping Peter Odemwingie to the bench despite his two goals to sink Southampton last Monday, and was rewarded as James Morrison and a Gary Caldwell own goal steered his side to a 2-1 victory that keeps them fifth in the table.

Boaz Myhill deputised in goal for first choice Ben Foster who, Clarke revealed, had had surgery on a groin injury. Myhill is likely to continue against Chelsea.

"We've got a lot of options in our squad, which gives me some fantastic problems," Clarke said. "We play with intensity going forward and I was a little concerned the ones who played on Monday night might be carrying fatigue. I've got a quality squad and I have to use them. They know they're all valuable in terms of the club going forward.

"Ben [Foster] had a minor procedure but he's back and he's comfortable and hopefully he is going to start training next week."

Roberto Martinez, the Wigan manager, conceded his side did not do enough to come back from 2-0 down. "Arouna [Kone]'s goal was one positive to take from the game and there were other good things to reflect on but we need to start developing an understanding of what to do when these kinds of situations present themselves," he said.