Source: Eurosport
Boss lauds Slovenia trip
Roberto Di Matteo feels West Brom's pre-season trip to Slovenia has proved hugely beneficial to the team's preparations for the new campaign.
The Baggies enjoyed a week in the Balkans training in high temperatures, while they followed up their opening 3-0 victory over NK Nafta with a 2-2 draw against Croatian top-flight outfit NK Varteks on Saturday.
Craig Beattie grabbed a brace to help secure Albion a share of the spoils while Luke Moore, Jonathan Greening and Jonas Olsson also found their goalscoring touch while on the trip.
Di Matteo told the club's official website: "Varteks are the best team we've played so far, so it was a good test for us. We're gradually stepping things up.
"On Saturday, some players played for more than 45 minutes while a few came back from injury, including Robert Koren. It was good to see Roko back. He joined in full training with the squad on Friday evening so we just gave him a little run out at the end.
"All in all, it's been a good week. We've worked very hard. We've also had a couple of good friendlies and I'm very pleased with the players. We've got to know them better and vice versa. Everybody's part of my plans at the moment."
