Heggebo will shine but issue resurfaces – What we learned in West Brom’s pre-season
West Brom have now ended their pre-season campaign, with the 2025/26 Championship season beginning this week.
Ryan Mason has overseen multiple changes at The Hawthorns as he targets Premier League promotion.
While many results in pre-season did not meet expectations, the summer ended on a positive note against Rayo Vallecano.
Now, West Brom News has examined three things we learned about the Baggies over the past month.
West Brom show resilience
One of the most positive performances from West Brom this pre-season came in their final match.
The Baggies beat La Liga outfit Rayo Vallecano 3-2 despite going 1-0 down at The Hawthorns.
Not only was this result impressive, but it also showed a resilient side of West Brom that did not exist last season.
When falling behind in the 2024/25 Championship campaign, the Baggies only won once and lost 12 out of 19 times.
- Of the 19 times West Brom went behindin the Championship last season, they only won once
- This was the 18th worst record of any team in the second tier
- The Baggies have now shown signs that they can overcome this issue with a comeback victory over Rayo Vallecano
Yet, on Saturday, the Black Country proved this may no longer be an issue, with Mason highlighting the importance of this feat when reflecting on the match.
He told the Express and Star (4 August): “We’re going to need that throughout the season. Football can be a harsh game at times.
“Of course we didn’t deserve to be 1‑0 down but it happens … we responded really well.
“It’s obviously nice to get a goal relatively quickly after theirs but we deserved it and we were clinical when we had our moments.”
Aune Heggebo is vital to early Ryan Mason success
The signing of Aune Heggebo at West Brom has been Mason’s biggest deals at the Baggies so far this summer.
The Norwegian moved to The Hawthorns after hitting a sensational run of form for Brann.
Now, the striker will be expected to lead the front line going into the new campaign.
Daryl Dike is injured yet again for West Brom, and Josh Maja has only just made his comeback from his long-term injury.
| Stats per 90 minutes from the 2024/25 Championship and the 2025 Eliteserien campaigns | Josh Maja | Aune Heggebo |
| Goals | 0.52 | 0.85 |
| xG | 0.43 | 0.70 |
| Shots | 2.08 | 3.02 |
| Shot on target | 0.78 | 1.39 |
| Expected assists | 0.08 | 0.11 |
| Successful dribbles | 0.82 | 0.85 |
| Chances created | 0.95 | 0.46 |
| Aerial duels won | 34.8% | 51.3% |
Therefore, Heggebo will be expected to step up and quickly find success in the opening months.
Luckily, the striker’s performances in pre-season so far have been impressive, showing every sign that he can meet expectations.
Hopefully, this will result in victories early in the Championship campaign.
West Brom’s defensive issues resurface
West Brom’s defensive problems were one of the biggest reasons for their late collapse in 2024/25 campaign.
The Baggies only managed to keep three clean sheets in 2025, which resulted in multiple defeats.
As a result, Mason has been keen to reinforce his backline, with Nat Phillips and George Campbell signing for West Brom this summer.
| West Brom’s major signings so far this summer |
| Nat Phillips |
| Aune Heggebo |
| George Campbell |
The former Liverpool man looked a coup after previously impressing on loan at Derby County.
However, these reinforcements have done little to tighten up the Black Country side’s defence, with zero clean sheets being kept in their major friendlies.
While it is going to take time for Phillips and Campbell to adapt to West Brom and Mason’s style, this needs to speed up if the Baggies are to get off to a good start.
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