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West Brom’s U23 defender Jack Fitzwater believes his teammate Chris Willock is surely knocking on the door of Slaven Bilic after his recent goalscoring exploits.
What’s he said?
Albion’s academy squad, featuring senior professionals like Ahmed Hegazi and Chris Brunt, were in action on Monday night as they defeated Swansea City U23s.
£8m summer arrival Kenneth Zohore bagged a brace to secure a 2-0 victory, but a different player has been talked up ahead of a potential first-team call up.
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Chris Willock joined the west Midlands outfit on loan from Benfica but is yet to feature in a senior fixture, which seems quite bizarre having arrived at the eleventh hour on deadline day.
His youth teammate, Fitzwater, who has also found competitive game time hard to come by, knows it is only a matter of time before the 21-year-old is lining up at the Hawthorns under Bilic.
He said:
“He’s always got a smile on his face, I think you can tell from tonight how good he is and what a talent he is.
“I think the only problem we’ve got is that we’ve got so many good players at the club at the moment in forward areas and they’re producing.
“He’s just got to be patient like the rest of us and hopefully he’ll get his chance.
“If he applies himself the way he has been in training and in games – I think he’s scored four or five goals already this season for the U23s, so he’s not doing anything wrong – I think it’s a matter of time before he gets into the team.”
Knocking on the door
Willock left Arsenal’s academy system in the summer of 2017 to pursue a move to Portuguese giants Benfica, signing a five-year deal, but he’s only ever featured for their B team.
Now Bilic is taking a look at him, and despite not playing a single minute for the first-team, it is believed he’s wanted for the long-term future.
In six U23 matches, the promising winger has bagged two goals and provided four assists, per Transfermarkt.
This sort of run would typically hand you a chance, but the form of Grady Diangana, Matheus Pereira, and Matty Phillips has put pay to that with the trio contributing to 21 goals either through scoring or assisting.
Given Charlie Austin’s struggles (one goal in ten matches), and our calls for Bilic to try a new system, Willock’s opportunity must surely be on the horizon.