Ben Foster hopes West Brom can persuade central defender Jonas Olsson to end speculation about his future by signing a new contract.
Olsson, who is in the final year of his current deal, and Gareth McAuley have formed a solid partnership which was again evident in Sunday's 1-1 draw with Midlands rivals Aston Villa.
Foster said: "Jonas and Gareth have been that way since the middle of last season. They are absolute warriors. You know they are going to block everything, head everything, kick everything.
"They took some serious knocks against Villa. They have got bumps and bruises all over, but they will always be in there fighting for you and it's nice to have two people like that in front of you.
"I don't think there are many better centre-back pairings in the Premier League. They play week in and week out I don't think they've missed a game for a good long time.
"You take all those things into account and I'd much rather be playing with those two than the majority of defensive pairings.
"I just hope Jonas will stay. He is such an important part of our team. I think the chairman (Jeremy Peace) needs to sit down (with Jonas).
"Lock them both in a room and hopefully get something sorted out.
"It's people like Jonas we need to be keeping if we are going to be pushing on."
