John Wile knows a thing or two about centre-halves. 619 appearances for Albion, many of those as captain, most of those alongside the equally imperious Ally Robertson.

Having spent 13 years marshalling the centre of Albion's defence, Wile reckons the Baggies are well on the road towards Premier League establishment.

You can read his interview in Wednesday's Birmingham Mail or by clicking here.

He has a point. When was the last time Albion went into the season with four centre-halves, three of whom are internationals, with tournament experience and know how of some of Europe's best other Leagues?

Olsson-Tamas-Pablo-Meite.

Whichever two of the four you choose, it's a fairly decent duo.

Yes, yes, I hear the concerns about Meite.

But even he, so maligned by many, is a decent stopper when he puts his heart into it. If we're to assume he's fourth choice next season then he's not a bad option to have.

Perhaps he will be forced to raise his game.

With the three in the squad he will have to.

While little is known about Pablo, other than his impressive CV, you don't get to be within a vote ballot result of joining Real Madrid if you've not got a bit about you. He's played for Spain alongside Puyol. He can't be bad.

Tamas, in my opinion the obvious candidate to be Albion's captain, is a sharp character. Bright, articulate, steely with determination to match. It's hard to see how the Romanian became such a journeyman during the early years of his career. In any case he was settled and couldn't wait to join Albion permanently.

Taking away his opening game against Forest - he barely put a foot long. With an ability to defend, composed and with a range of passing that would please a No10, Tamas will be my shout to be first choice next season.

Olsson, too, is savvy. He may not be the quickest and he may have that volatile streak, but he is a solid, committed character, who is also comfortable in possession.

Fans may point to a lack of pace through the centre of Albion's backline - though Pablo is reasonably swift according to reports in Spain - yet that will not be an issue every week. Villa, Blues and Wolves, to pick out the local sides, were not blessed with outstanding pace at the back. Yet all three coped.

What Albion will need are dependable performers, who know when to commit to a challenge and when to play the ball out of trouble and when to be more rudimentary.

It's of little surprise that Wile is impressed with the core of Albion's defence - on paper it has the potential to be the best central defensive combination since he and Robertson were bouncing strikers out of their path.

And Wile is spot on - if Albion can get the spine of their defence sorted out (a couple of full-backs are still needed to challenge Cech/Jara on the respective left/right sides) then Roberto Di Matteo's men won't be far away from being in the Premier League in 12 months time.