Exclusive: Phillips raves about West Brom player who ‘Shone’ in win v Harrogate
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 has hailed Slaven Bilic for naming a strong team against Harrogate Town as West Brom won 3-0 in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night.
Albion bounced back to their Premier League opener defeat to Leicester by strolling past the League Two side with relative comfort.
Bilic named what was almost a fully rotated side from the one that lost to the Foxes but it still enabled him to play a few academy products, some fringe players and several more experienced heads.
David Button, Cedric Kipre and Lee Peltier all earned their West Brom debuts versus Harrogate but it was Edwards who stood out above all the others in the win.
“It was a good win for them. It’s a win that you needed with a fairly strong side mixed with a couple of youngsters,” Phillips told West Brom News.
“It’s so important to get that first win on the board. You talk about Leeds [and their defeat to Stoke]. They made a mistake and should’ve gone strong to try and win a football match just to get that first win.
“There were some good performances by Baggies players. Edwards is a good young player who shone.
“It’ll be interesting to see how he’s used for the rest of the season.”
Edwards was one of the goalscorers on Wednesday night but he did superbly well to assist Callum Robinson’s second-half goal.
The 22-year-old had the ball by the corner flag, beat a defender with a bit of skill, burst into the box and then picked out Robinson with a lovely pass into the box.
According to Sky Sports, Edwards created more chances [3] and made more passes in the opposition half [31] than any other player on the pitch.
It was a great performance by the attacker but we doubt he will keep his spot in the starting line-up when Albion take on Everton this weekend in the Premier League.
In other West Brom news, Bilic confirmed an injury blow to one of his players after the win against Harrogate.
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