Slaven Bilic’s West Bromwich Albion will host Alex Neil’s Preston North End at the Hawthorns – will Callum Robinson and Kamil Grosicki make the difference?
Alex Neil thinks midweek opponents West Bromwich Albion have signed a ‘terrific’ player in Kamil Grosicki while paying tribute to his former Preston North End star Callum Robinson, speaking to LancsLive.
Sixth hosts first on Tuesday night with the Lilywhites travelling to Slaven Bilic’s top-of-the-table Baggies at the Hawthorns.
And it just so happens that arguably West Brom’s most in-form player right now was wreaking havoc in Preston colours this time last year. Robinson, a January loan signing from Sheffield United, netted the opener in Saturday’s 3-0 thrashing of Bristol City seven days after his sublime finish against Nottingham Forest.
Neil knows all about a jet-heeled winger he sold for £8 million last summer and Robinson, alongside fellow winter recruit Grosicki, is likely to cause Preston’s backline no end of problems tomorrow.
“Callum Robinson is obviously a good addition and he will be very happy as he’s started well there. And Grosicki is a terrific player,” said a coach who got the best out of the former Aston Villa starlet at Deepdale.
“If you look at his last season here, I think that’s when the penny really dropped for Callum. He scored 13 goals while missing four months of the season so it’s no surprise to see him doing well.
“I think how well Callum is doing for West Brom reflects very well on this club for how he developed while he was here, but equally we will be doing our utmost to stop him tomorrow night.”
While Robinson has established himself as one of the first names on Bilic’s team-sheet in double-quick time, Grosicki is yet to really make his mark since his bargain switch from Hull City.
The Poland international has made just four substitute appearances so far, totalling a mere 65 minutes. But with a gruelling fixture schedule on West Brom’s hands, Bilic will need every member of his star-studded squad to step up – starting with Preston on Tuesday.
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