West Brom: James Morrison targets Championship title medal

Feb 23 2010 By Chris Lepkowski

JAMES Morrison wants another Championship title medal as he prepares to finally end his long battle against injury.

The Baggies midfielder is likely to be on the bench for Wednesday's FA Cup replay against Reading having not played since last April due to a heel injury.

He came through Monday’s specially-arranged practice match against Wrexham without any problems and now aims to help Albion to success.

Morrison is expected to be a substitute in tonight’s cup-tie, but he knows that the main priority is returning to the top flight.

And he intends doing all he can to ensure he repeats Albion’s feat of two years ago by winning the title for the second time.

“It feels great being back,” he said.

“I got an hour under my belt on Monday and everything felt good. I’m surprised how good I feel to be honest and there’s no reason why I can’t be part of the squad now.

“The last nine months...I can’t describe how frustrating they’ve been or how I’ve been feeling.

“But I feel I will be a better person for the experience.

“I will use it as a positive influence - I will look back on this time and know I can make the most of it, improve my game and make the most of my ability.

“I have experience of winning the Championship two seasons ago.

“That will help me come into the team and push us onto top two.

“People think we want to get just promoted but I want to win the League - I think we can.”

Despite Morrison’s confidence, Roberto Di Matteo has urged Albion fans not to expect too much, too soon.

The Albion boss, who also welcomes back Marek Cech, expects there to be no lingering ligament or muscular problems for the Scotland international to worry about.

But he accepts that it can take time for players to return to be fully motoring.

He said: “We are taking into consideration that James Morrison has been out for many months.

“Mozza has been doing well although it’s different to competitive matches.

“Obviously he’s not had muscular or tendon problems so that should help but the fact he’s been out for such a long time means we have to be careful in that sense.

“We’ve been waiting for him for most of the season.

“We know the type of player he can be but I wouldn’t put too high hopes on him being on top of his game straight away.
“It will take him a while to get into the rhythm of games. He’s very positive and looking forward to being involved again because it’s been frustrating for him.”