West Brom's Daryl Dike says goals taste better after injury nightmare

The 22-year-old notched his fourth and fifth goals of the season to earn Carlos Corberan’s side a crucial 2-0 home win over high-flying Middlesbrough.

The United States international’s 13 months at Albion have been largely ravaged by serious hamstring and thigh injuries, but Dike is now regularly leading the line in the Baggies’ play-off hunt.

“With football you don’t ever want anything bad to happen, but it’s not always going to be go smoothly,” Dike told the Express & Star. “There are going to be times where maybe you’re not fit, things aren’t going your way on the pitch.

“But I think you always know that if you keep working, if you keep doing your thing, it’s going to turn around.

“After you keep working, having that support of everybody and when things to turn around, it makes you cherish it that much more.

“With the recent success of the team and more minutes from me, it’s something I look back on and think of all the things I’ve done, solutions and the help, of course it makes the moment great, it’s what I’ve been waiting for.”

Dike’s tally of five Championship goals comes in just nine league starts since his return from the latest lengthy setback around the time of the break for the World Cup in November.

All of the powerful frontman’s goals have come in Albion wins, against Sunderland, Reading, Luton and now Boro, with the winners in three of those.

Though he snapped a run of six games without netting with two well-taken early goals in two minutes to put Corberan’s men on their way against Boro.

Dike was denied a hat-trick after the break by compatriot Zack Steffen in the Boro goal. He smiled: “I’m very annoyed! But it is what it is, I’ll have another game and another chance.

“As I said before I’m always pushing for another goal. It’s very disappointing not to get it, life of a striker not everything is going to go in.

“But in the next game I’ll have another chance and more chances to score to get hat-tricks.

“Me and Zack are good friends, so obviously we shared some words after the game.

“I asked him why he didn’t let me have the third!

“No, he’s a great guy, a great keeper as well, so it’s great to be able to compete against guys you played with on the national team at club level.”

Dike added of an impressive team performance that marked a return to winning ways after some travel sickness: “Yeah it’s a huge win, for us it’s been something we’ve kind of been pushing for, especially after the last few results.

“We want to keep pushing, keep the home form we have going.

“Against a tough side we knew it would be another mission, we were able to do it with the work of the guys from minute one to minute 90, working the entire game, it’s great to have another three points and win at home.”