Carl Hoefkens looking forward to Gianni Zuiverloon competition

Aug 8 2008 By Chris Lepkowski

CARL Hoefkens today revealed that he was losing no sleep over the imminent arrival of Gianni Zuiverloon.

Dutch under-21 international Zuiverloon is currently at the Bejing Olympics, which gives Hoefkens an opportunity to cement his position on the right-side of Albion's backline.

Zuiverloon, a £3.2million signing from Heerenveen, will not be back in the UK until the end of August and Hoefkens, himself a Belgian international, has no qualms about the threat posed by the new signing.

“I think if you play football as a professional you know there will always be opponents looking for your place," said the 29-year-old.

“It’s not something to be worried about, it’s just a great challenge.

“The more players you have for every position the greater the challenge is to prove you are worth your place and it's up to every new player to prove they are worth their place in this team.

“It is not something that worries me, it is just that the challenge gets bigger.

“The bigger the team you play in, the more good opponents you face."

Off the pitch, Hoefkens has tried to recreate Albion's peroxide posse.

The Belgian has had a crew cut and dyed his hair a bright blond colour, just as Paul Robinson and Kevin Phillips did last year.

But the new-look is not to everyone's taste with Mrs Hoefkens still yet to be convinced.

"I just wanted a change," added Hoefkens, who had shoulder-length hair when he arrived at The Hawthorns 12 months ago.

"I didn't copy Robbo though or Super Kev, although if I score 24 goals then...

"It's created a bit of banter in the dressing room but my wife is still 50-50. I'm not sure she's too happy about it."