West Brom: Roberto Di Matteo hails new signings
Roberto Di Matteo
Meanwhile, sporting and technical director Dan Ashworth has backed Joe Mattock to put his recent assault conviction behind him.
“Joe’s only just turned 20. He’s a young boy,” Ashworth said.
“He’s achieved a lot in his career. He played a lot of games for Leicester, played a lot for us last season and got to semi-finals with England under-19s.
‘‘He’s got two terrific players vying for the same spot in Nicky Shorey and Marek Cech. If he goes to the Championship to gain more experience then fine. We only have one fit left-back and Joe will be fit before Marek so he will stay here for now.
“What happened was worrying for Joe but he was 19. He’s still young.
‘‘He will knuckle down and focus on a promising career. We’re sure he’ll be fine. We have had some interest in Joe but he was injured and I think people were concerned about the court case so it will be interesting to see what happens.”
Ashworth added that Chris Wood is attracting interest.
“Chris came on at Anfield so as things stand he’s part of our squad,’’ he said.
‘‘It will have to be when it suits us. We don’t have a deal with Derby or anyone else.
‘‘We’ve had a lot of interest and I’m not surprised. He did well last season, he’s achieved a lot so far – he had a great World Cup. But he has more experienced strikers around him. He scored a good goal at Orient and did well at Anfield.”
