News

Potter: The final part will come

Despite enjoying the majority of possession and creating a handful of chances at St James’ Park on Saturday, Albion were unable to get the better of Newcastle United — but Graham Potter backed his team to move closer to finding that clinical touch.

By Kieran Cleeves • 23 September 2019

By Bennett Dean
Graham Potter in good spirits.

A goalless draw saw Albion extend their unbeaten Premier League run against the Magpies to five matches, and Potter is confident his players will keep working hard to achieve success in the final third after only taking a point.

He said, “We’re disappointed because we came away from home, created some good opportunities but didn’t score the goal, which is always the most difficult thing to do in football.

“But if we can maintain and improve the performance levels, then I think that final part comes.

“There’s sometimes a little bit of luck involved. The more you get into the final third, the more you can develop your final-third attacking play.

“We’ve been competitive in all of the games so far — we just need to take that next step.”

By Paul Hazlewood
Dan Burn drives out of defence at St James' Park

Potter made three changes to his side for the visit to St James’ Park, with a number of players shifting into different positions, and Albion’s head coach spoke about versatility and singled out Dan Burn.

“You don’t want to put players in positions where they’re not comfortable, that’s for sure.

“I look at the players in training, look at the requirements from a tactical perspective and see if their profile fits.

“It wasn’t easy for Dan [Burn] on Saturday for example, but he stuck at his task well against a couple of wide players who were pretty fast.

“He did very well and gives us good balance down that left-hand side of the pitch.”