The Swedish defender has not featured in the Premier League since October due to an Achilles injury and made a short-lived return in the FA Cup against Reading earlier this month as he was sent off shortly after coming on at half-time. That meant the 27-year-old was suspended for Saturday's 3-2 win over Blackpool but he was set to boost his fitness by playing 45 minutes in a behind-closed-doors game against a Walsall XI. And Olsson, who signed from NEC Nijmegen in 2008, hopes that will be enough to convince Di Matteo to bring him back into a defence that has leaked an average of two goals a game in his absence. "Last time I was out injured in the first Premier League season I was out for two months, trained for a couple of days, played against West Ham and played every game after that," he told the club's official website. Feeling fit "I feel I know my body quite well after playing over 20 years of football, and I feel fit and good to go, but of course it's good to get some minutes in a game. "It's different to training but it's also different to a Premier League game, where you have the crowd around you and an adrenaline rush. "A reserves game is not as intense but it will help me get better prepared." West Brom visit Blackburn on Sunday looking to halt a run of five straight away defeats. Olsson feels the Baggies defence has struggled in the air so the 6ft 4in centre-back is eager to earn a recall. Aerial threat "When I'm fit I want to play," he said. "But I'm not taking anything for granted. "I was dropped for the first game of this season and that shows there is competition. "I'm going to do my best this week to train as hard as I can to convince the gaffer I should be involved on Sunday. "In some of the games we just haven't had the tallest of teams out," Olsson added. "Any team missing their four or five tallest players is going to struggle at set-pieces. "You have teams in the league who really specialise and build their team around set-plays, like Blackburn, Stoke and Wigan, a bit. "We are not that kind of team. Our philosophy is we want to play football and our greatest strength is in open play."
