Brunt can't wait for pre-season
24 Jun 2008 - 16:08:28
Northern Ireland international Chris Brunt believes a full pre-season with West Brom will help him to consoidate his place in Tony Mowbray's first-team plans.
The 23-year-old midfielder only sealed his transfer from Sheffield Wednesday to The Hawthorns when the 2007-08 campaign was underway in mid-August and thinks he will benefit from a full pre-season with the rest of the Albion players.
He said: "Towards the end of last summer it became quite stressful because I didn't know where I was going or what I was going to do.
"It's nice just to have a summer where I can sit back, relax and look forward to next season.
"I spent most of last pre-season with Sheffield Wednesday. When you go away on pre-season trips, it's a good time to get to know people better. I didn't get the chance to do that last year.
"With the internationals going on as well, it wasn't easy to get settled in.
"I think we need to make ourselves as physically ready as we can. I don't think the ability within the team is in question, but there are areas we need to work on, otherwise we'll get punished in the Premier League.
"But if we have good fitness levels going into the season, it will be a good start. I'm doing a bit of extra work now because I'm one of those people who just needs to keep ticking over.
"I've done it for the past couple of years and I want to give myself the best opportunity of playing in the Premier League."