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da poker： This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players, and managers…
Darren Bent has revealed his shock at Charlie Austin not featuring at the weekend, speaking to Football Insider after West Brom drew to Derby.
What’s he said?
Slaven Bilic needed another late penalty to ensure that his side’s unbeaten run continued into another Championship weekend with goalkeeper Sam Johnstone also coming to the rescue, saving a second Martyn Waghorn penalty.
Kenneth Zohore slotted home that 84th-minute spot-kick and was given the starting duties over their £4m deadline day arrival.
Austin was named on the bench but didn’t feature in the match at all.
The decision left the former Derby striker rather perplexed, speaking to Football Insider, Bent said:
“I was really surprised because I know he’s going to score goals. They had good chances and they didn’t take them.
“Slaven Bilic has spoken about game time and him not being ready yet but he needs to play games – then we’ll see the best of Charlie Austin. We’ve seen at this level, and even in the Premier League, he’s done well.”
Must play more
The 30-year-old striker is desperate for match fitness so he should be starting every game possible, or at least introduced for half an hour or so per match – especially as they are no longer in the Carabao Cup.
The Baggies are also looking rather lacklustre in front of goal, an issue we highlighted on Football FanCast this week.
Watch West Bromwich Albion Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below
Despite averaging the fourth-most shots per game in the league at 15.6, only 3.6 of those are actually on target, ranking them 13th against all the other Championship clubs, per WhoScored.
Austin may be lacking fitness but his predatory-like instincts and ability to score in the box, as shown in the xG map in this article, must be considered, especially as he wouldn’t require a lot of movement if he was simply trying to poach.
That presents another reason for why a switch to two up front could pay dividends.
It would give the 6 foot 2 forward less responsibility around the pitch meaning he won’t get overworked and tired.
The former Southampton striker has a rather impressive goal record in the Championship and it’s not as if his time in the Premier League was lacking either.
At this level, Austin has bagged 66 goals in 131 appearances whilst he has hit 34 goals since the 2014/15 season in the top-flight.
On those reasons alone, he needs to play more often for Albion.
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