Kevin Phillips wants Callum Robinson to start in West Brom v Southampton
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 wants to see Callum Robinson return to the West Brom starting line-up to play against Southampton at The Hawthorns on Monday night.
Robinson, 26, came off the bench to make his first Premier League appearance since February 2 at Chelsea last week.
In his 53-minute appearance at Stamford Bridge, Robinson scored twice as the Baggies won 5-2 and drew comparisons to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for his performance [BBC Sport].
It was a sensational performance by the Republic of Ireland international and Phillips fails to see how he cannot start versus Southampton on Monday.
When asked if Robinson will be more likely to start versus the Saints, Phillips said: “You’d like to think so.
“As I said last weekend, West Brom need to win football matches. It’s as simple as that.
“All you can do is bring players on is hope they make an impact and give you an issue about picking them the following week.
“Robinson’s done that so credit to him.
“You’d like to think he’ll start because he’s another attacking player on the pitch who can score goals.
“He did his chances no harm whatsoever with his performance last weekend.”
Robinson has scored four goals in 22 Premier League appearances for West Brom this season and all four of those goals have come against Chelsea.
His one and only other top-flight goal in English football came last season when he also found the net against Chelsea for Sheffield United.
While Robinson seems to be an expert in taking down the West London club, it’s against teams like Southampton where he – and the rest of his teammates – need to crank up their performances.
It’s all well and good impressing in games against big-six sides but Albion need to stand up when it matters most and take points against teams who are in the bottom half with them.
If Robinson starts on Monday night – and we think he should – he needs to play as good as he has done against Chelsea.
In other West Brom news, this £42,000-a-week Aston Villa player has been tipped for a potential free transfer to The Hawthorns in the summer.
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