Steve Clarke says his West Brom side is better than last season

West Brom boss Steve Clarke is confident his side can emulate their success of last season and has no fears of the so-called second season syndrome.

Last term, West Brom began by defeating Liverpool 3-0 at home, the first of 10 victories in their opening 19 league fixtures - which were followed by only four in their final 19. Clarke has stressed that while he is keen for another good start this time out, a bad one should not necessarily be viewed as a disaster, given it is only the points tally at the end of the season that really matters. "If you win your first few games, it's great - you can push on from there," said Clarke, whose side's two league fixtures after Southampton see them face Everton away and Swansea at home. "But it is not always possible to do that. So as I said last season - it doesn't matter when you get your points. The only thing that is important in a Premier League season is that you do get your points. "We will be trying as hard as we can to win our first three games before the next international break and if we can do that, it sets us up for a good season. "But if we can't do it, it doesn't mean to say you are going to have a bad season, because there are so many games still to be played."