West Bromwich Albion have been handed a boost by boss Steve Bruce, who has issued a positive update on his squad.
What’s the word?
That is according to a report from BirminghamMail who claim that the vast majority of Bruce’s squad are in “ship shape” and are slowly building up fitness levels before their pre-season friendly campaign which begins next Monday.
As per the report, the Albion squad are in the Portimao region of Portugal in pre-season camp, with Bruce and his staff watching the players closely.
And the boss has issued a positive update that will please the WBA faithful. As per BirminghamMail, Bruce said:
“Dike is okay, Mowatt is okay, Bartley not for the first week at least, and Kean Bryan is still a few weeks away from joining in with us,” Bruce explained.
“We set up a training camp in Portugal and took my staff out there with the physios. Dike and Zohore both did a couple of weeks, so did Townsend, so did Mowatt, so they’ve got themselves in good nick.
“The only ones missing are Bartley and Kean.”
Will Dike score 10+ goals this season?
Supporters will be buzzing
West Bromwich Albion look to be serious about achieving their ambition of Premier League promotion this season.
You can see this from their movement in the transfer market, as well as the reports surrounding their pre-season preparation.
But from the update issued by Bruce, perhaps the biggest news for supporters, aside from new signings in Jed Wallace and John Swift joining up with the squad, is the status of Dike.
The 22-year-old American is highly rated and has proven himself in all three full seasons of his career, scoring 28 goals in that time frame.
Essentially, it’s a case of where there is game time, there is most certainly goals for Dike, and he has not been afforded the former due to an unfortunate situation with a hamstring problem that ruled him out for the majority of the campaign.
As such, he has not had a chance to prove his worth at The Hawthorns, but the latest developments from Bruce, who was careful with his minutes at the end of the season, paints a positive picture for supporters who will be eager to see him bagging goals on the regular across the upcoming campaign.
AND in other news: Journalist drops big 8-word West Brom transfer claim that supporters will hate
