Georginio: No big egos key to success so far this season

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Striker would love to win some silverware with Albion.

Bruce Talbot

2026-10-15T07:00+01:00

📷Paul Hazlewood

Georginio Rutter has highlighted the sense of unity driving Albion and their ultimate desire to secure silverware for the first time in our history.

The UEFA Conference League campaign starts at the Amex tonight against Kauno Zalgiris.

"We are pretty confident," Rutter said of Albion's recent run. "When you win games like we have it's always good for the team and for the spirit, but we have to be careful. We have to be focused and stay consistent."

That focus extends directly to tonight’s European opponents. Despite Kauno Zalgiris never having faced English opposition before, Rutter refuses to underestimate the challenge.

"We have to be careful. I know our strength and tonight is important for the team to be consistent," he explained. "We take this game very seriously because we know it's not an easy game."

Albion’s early-season success has been characterised by shared responsibility, boasting the highest number of different goalscorers in the Premier League. For Rutter, a recent celebration against Sunderland—where the entire bench joined the players on the pitch after Jaouen Hadjam got the second goal in stoppage time in the 2-0 win - epitomises their evolution as a group.

"If you look at the statistics, it's not one player who scores, it's a lot of players. Against Sunderland when we scored, the whole bench came and that is the spirit at the moment. This year we are very together. The celebration is amazing because we don't see this very often. We put our ego on the side."

On a personal level, Rutter is finding his rhythm after a frustrating, injury-hit start to the campaign. Head coach Fabian Hurzeler recently praised his performances in training, a shift in attitude that Rutter openly acknowledges.

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With little time to celebrate our Premier League victory at Sunderland at the weekend, Fabian Hurzeler and his coaching staff turn their attention to our opening UEFA Conference League match against Kauno Zalgiris on Thursday evening. Club photographer Paul Hazlewood was at the training ground to capture pictures from the session on Tuesday morning.

"I think I'm hard to work with sometimes. In training, for example, I'm not consistent," Rutter admitted. "This week I was very consistent, and he (Hurzeler) said 'that's the Georgi I want to see'. I try to do my best every training now and change the mentality as well."

Driven by that refreshed mindset, the striker's ultimate goal is tangible success in front of a rocking Amex Stadium tonight.

"You can be good on the ball, you can run, but the most important thing for a striker is to score. I play football to win a trophy and this year we have an opportunity to do it. So why not? We're going to give everything for this. If we stay very humble and confident at the same time and consistent, we can do something great."