Source: FOOTYMAD
Assistant praises midfield duo
Newton delighted to see Brunt and Morrison back to best Albion No.2 and former Chelsea midfielder Eddie Newton believes Chris Brunt and James Morrison are currently on the top of their game. Brunt has continued where he left off last season and Morrison has rediscovered the form before being sidelined by 10 months through injury. Both players stared in the victory over Fulham last week and Newton says the pair deserves more praise for their current form. "I thought Brunty didn't get the respect he deserved last season," said the assistant head coach. "When we first came to the club, we were told that his transition from attacking to defending was quite poor. "But we saw vast changes in that and he got better and better last season. "He has continued his form this season and technically he is fantastic. "His delivery from set-pieces can be as good as anyone in the Premier League and his reverse ball for Youssouf's goal last weekend was fantastic. "He does that in training all the time. "He just sees a pass and has that peripheral vision that means he sees things others don't. "Sometimes, his passes go astray because people aren't on the same wavelength as him and it makes him look bad. "But we see what he is trying to do. "He is a fantastic professional and a very grounded individual. "That's why he is doing so well." Morrison is currently keeping last season’s player of the year Graham Dorrans out of the starting XI. But his current run in the team is in contrast to when Newton and Roberto Di Matteo first arrived at the club. "When we arrived here two summers ago, we knew that technically Mozza was very good and I was really looking forward to working with him"He was down quite a lot last season because his long time out took quite a lot out of him psychologically,” he added. "He is one of those players that just wants to be on the training pitch and just wants to play football. "It was quite hard on him when he came back and realised he wasn't up to speed. "In games, he said he had lost power and couldn't do what he was used to doing. "We had to talk to him quite a lot and tell him to be patient because slowly but surely it would come. "He worked extremely hard during pre-season and what you're seeing now is the result of that hard work. "He put the hard work in during pre-season, got his head down, had no ego and now we are seeing a really good player. "On Saturday, I thought he was fantastic with the energy levels he put in."
