‘100%’ – Exclusive: Phillips claims ‘pressure is on’ West Brom star after draw v Brighton
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 with Karlan Grant after the striker scored his first goal for West Brom in their 1-1 draw away at Brighton on Monday.
Grant, 23, joined the Baggies on a six-year deal earlier this month and came close to netting on his debut against Burnley the week before when he had an effort disallowed.
However, the ex-Huddersfield striker refused to be fazed by that disappointment against Burnley to score a good goal to earn Albion a point at the AMEX.
Phillips believes that Grant’s goal will serve as a major boost for the centre-forward and that manager Slaven Bilic will be delighted that his new signing has hit the ground running.
“The player hasn’t been brought in for a huge fee but nevertheless, he knows the pressure is on him because West Brom were desperate to bring a striker in,” Phillips told West Brom News.
“He had the goal disallowed against Burnley and you want to get off the mark as quickly as you can.
“It was a tidy finish [against Brighton]. He had great composure and smashed it into the roof of the net so that will do his confidence the world of good.
“I nearly predicted the correct score. I know Brighton had opportunities and Sam Johnstone made some good saves but you expect that when you go away from home.
“But they came away with a point and I’m 100 per cent sure that Slaven Bilic would have taken that before the game.
“And, obviously, there were two positives with the point and his new striker has managed to get off the mark.”
Up next for West Brom is a massive clash against Fulham at Craven Cottage on Monday night.
Bilic’s men picked up their third point of the season when Grant rescued a draw at Brighton while Fulham are sat at the bottom of the Premier League table, two points behind 17th-placed Albion.
Both sides were widely tipped to be in the relegation battle before the season started and so far, neither have managed to make those pundits and fans eat their words.
But a winner on Monday will go a long way towards doing that and hopefully, Grant is able to build up a run of goalscoring momentum to help West Brom double their point tally.
In other West Brom news, this Baggies loanee suffered an injury this week.
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