West Brom's Jordan Hugill has made the most of international break
Valerien Ismael says the international break has been good for Jordan Hugill – with the striker having used the time to work on his fitness and get used to the manager’s high-intensity style of play.
With Kenneth Zohore out of favour, the Baggies entered the final week of the transfer window without an out-and-out centre-forward in their squad.
But they rectified that by bringing in Hugill, who arrived on a season-long loan from Norwich.
The 29-year-old featured off the bench in Albion’s win at Peterborough just before the international break.
And Ismael revealed the Baggies have been working extensively with the forward in the two weeks that have since followed.
“I think it was important to work with him (Hugill) over these 10 days,” the boss said.
“He has trained well so far, he understood quickly. And when you have more time, more training sessions, more video sessions with the player – it’s easier to implement the philosophy.
“He is more ready now because of these 10 days. We have a better feeling because he has been able to have more training sessions and more video sessions with us.
“It’s all about getting him games now to do the job.”
Ismael believes everyone at Albion has benefitted from the international break.
“It was a great time – we needed time to reflect, the first eight weeks here with the squad, new manager, new staff, new philosophy,” he said.
“We put in a lot of work to implement the philosophy and we’ve started the season well.
“It’s been an intense time, but it was a time to reflect and analyse the first five games with my staff and to recognise the trends from the opponents.”
