Championship news: Steve Bruce feels West Brom have enough 'quality' for promotion push
- Simon Wilkes
- 24 July 2022
Steve Bruce believes West Brom now have ‘quality’ in their attacking ranks as they prepare for a promotion campaign in the Championship.
Bruce replaced Valerien Ismael at The Hawthorns last season, but failed to galvanise the Baggies who finished 10th in the table, eight points off a play-off place and 23 points behind champions Fulham.
The former Newcastle manager identified Albion's 'Achilles heel' as being in the top end of the pitch, and moved quickly to sign Reading playmaker John Swift on a free transfer and Millwall winger Jed Wallace on a four-year contract.
Swift and Wallace have impressed in the club's pre-season friendlies, with the former scoring an equaliser against Hertha Berlin on Saturday and the latter setting up striker Daryl Dike's winning header as Albion came from 1-0 to win 2-1.
Bruce has also beefed up his midfield options with the capture of Turkish midfielder Okay Yokuslu, who has re-signed for the Baggies following his release from Celta Vigo.
West Brom open their Championship campaign against Middlesbrough at The Riverside in next Saturday's late kick-off (5.30pm).
Norwich and Watford are the favourites with most bookmakers to secure an immediate return to the Premier League - but Boro, Sheffield United, Burnley and Bruce's Baggies are being tipped to make it a pulsating race.
Bruce told the Express & Star: "We've got a bit of quality at the top end of the pitch, which is why we brought in Swift in particular, and Wallace.
Great game and a great reception 🙌🏻 can’t wait to get started now! Let’s go baggies @WBA pic.twitter.com/5ERe8whWqc
— John Swift (@JohnSwift8) July 23, 2022
"They've scored one and made one. We had to improve in that area, that was our Achilles heel.
"We created enough but we never scored enough. We relied too much on [Karlan] Granty last year.
"They gave us that bit of quality which is going to be crucial in this Championship race."
