‘Blimey’ – Exclusive: Pundit delighted with West Brom after ‘Very encouraging’ boost
We’re delighted to welcome former West Brom striker Kevin Phillips as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at The Hawthorns…
Kevin Phillips is delighted to see that West Brom held their own in a 2-2 draw against Aston Villa at Villa Park on Saturday.
Dean Smith’s side hosted a warm-up match between themselves at the Baggies, who went ahead twice in the game thanks to goals by Kamil Grosicki and Filip Krovinovic.
Keinan Davis and Jack Grealish both bagged goals for Aston Villa to ensure they would avoid defeat against Albion but it was a solid result for Slaven Bilic’s men, who resume their season next Saturday against Birmingham City.
Phillips cannot see how the draw with Villa will be anything but positive for West Brom, suggesting that the draw will hand them a boost to their hopes about next season if they win promotion to the Premier League.
“It’s hard to gauge where they are in terms of fitness,” the pundit told West Brom News.
“When you think about it, there aren’t too many places between them at the moment with West Brom second in the Championship and Villa second from bottom. There’s not an awful lot of difference and they’re Premier League and West Brom are Championship.
“It’s a great run out and these two players have scored goals. I don’t know much about the game but if you score, you’ve obviously played a big part of it.
“That’s very encouraging for West Brom. As a player, I’ve been there. You play a Premier League team in pre-season and you outplay them and you think ‘blimey, when we step up we’re going to be alright’.”
Aston Villa have been poor in the Premier League this season and that is why they are 19th at the moment and are in the running to be relegated and replaced by the Baggies.
Drawing against them shouldn’t be read into too much because they’re such a bad side and neither team has played a competitive game in over three months.
The game was more about getting players back up to speed and used to playing in empty stadiums, which some of the Villa players grew used to in their seasons in the Championship.
In other West Brom news, Albion are set to play two matches against Premier League opposition this week.
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