David Prutton heaps praise on West Brom star man John Swift after early season heroics
David Prutton has heaped praise on John Swift, suggesting the West Brom midfielder has been one of the “star men” in the early stages of the season.
Swift has started the campaign in excellent form having scored six and assisted once in the opening 11 matches of the Championship season, already matching his goal tally from last season, but has been ruled out for six weeks with a calf strain.
But the 28-year-old’s performances so far this season have earned him plenty of praise and Sky Sports presenter Prutton has included the midfielder in his Championship team of the season so far.
Speaking on Sky Sports (17 October) when asked if Swift was one of Carlos Corberan’s star players, he said: “One of them, it’s a good squad that should have been doing better than it has been and John Swift seems to have been part of the Championship conversation for such a long period of time.”
“But I think what we’re seeing in the opening weeks of the season is a player that is becoming more clinical which hopefully if you’re a Baggies fan, stands you in good stead.”
Star man
West Brom have seen the best out of Swift so far this season and the midfielder has got better with each passing game. It will be a true test of Corberan’s side to see how they manage without their main man in the coming weeks of the season.
The point about the 28-year-old becoming more clinical is an excellent observation, as Swift’s six Championship goals this season have only come from an xG of 1.91, meaning he is over-performing his expected goal rate by three times what is expected of him [Fotmob].
So far this season he is averaging a goal every 123 minutes in England’s second tier and his six strikes have come from only seven shots on target, demonstrating the fact that he is barely wasting a chance that comes his way at The Hawthorns.
If he recovers this form when he returns from injury, there could well be plenty of interest in the midfielder when the January transfer window rolls around. But between now and then Corberan needs to work out where his team’s goals are coming from as no other Albion player has found the net more than twice this season.
In other West Brom news, Irish media have praised the “energy” that Jayson Molumby brought from the bench against Gibraltar