Interviews

Mac Allister: Our goal is to help Welbeck hit the target

Midfielder backs forward to follow up strong performances with goals.

By Bruce Talbot • 09 November 2022

By Paul Hazlewood
Danny Welbeck has made 12 Premier League appearances so far this campaign.

Alexis Mac Allister was delighted to see Adam Lallana on the score-sheet against Wolves and hopes Danny Welbeck will soon join Albion’s lengthening list of goal scorers.

Lallana netted for the first time since March 2021 and Kaoru Mitoma scored his first for the club in Saturday’s 3-2 win at Wolves - Albion have now had nine different goal scorers in all competitions this season.

“Adam Lallana is fantastic on and off the pitch, he’s so important to the squad,” said Mac Allister. “When he speaks everyone listens and that’s because of the respect everyone has for him. He’s a fantastic lad, who lives football and like everyone here he wants to win every game.

By Paul Hazlewood
Danny Welbeck celebrates with Alexis Mac Allister after the Argentinian netted against West Ham.

“It’s good to have him on the scoresheet on Saturday and now our goal is for Danny Welbeck to score, because he deserves it and is a fantastic player who is really important for the team.”

Welbeck may get an opportunity against one of his former clubs when Albion head to Arsenal in the Carabao Cup third round tonight. We then face Aston Villa at the Amex on Sunday before Mac Allister and several team-mates head off to the World Cup in Qatar.

“It’s hard not to think about the World Cup because it is so close now,” said Mac Allister, whose Argentina team open their tournament against Saudi Arabia in less than two weeks on November 22. “But as players we are used to being in the moment in every game so I will do my best every time to get on the pitch.

“In this club we have the mentality to try and win every game. We have two hard opponents this week and we will try and do our best to win both.”

Albion will go into tonight’s game at the Emirates, where we have won on two of our last three visits, boosted by wins over Chelsea and Wolves.

“We needed the confidence of back-to-back wins after a few defeats in a row,” said Mac Allister. “The win against Chelsea helped and on Saturday we played a very good game against Wolves. We will keep working to keep playing like that and do our best tonight.”