Five things we noticed from West Brom’s first days of pre-season training camp in Portugal

West Brom headed out to Portugal this past week to take part in their pre-season training camp ahead of yet another gruelling Championship campaign.

Albion finished well below par last season and have been putting the hard-yards in nice and early to make sure we don’t see a repeat of that in the next.

Steve Bruce is the man charged with rebuilding the Baggies squad into one capable of making a charge to the Premier League and the arrivals of Jed Wallace and John Swift have seen him make a nice start.

Those two along with the rest of the squad are currently being put through their paces in the Portimao sunshine and whilst it may look fun, it’s very from a holiday for the lads.

Here’s five things we’ve noticed from the first few days of the Portugal training camp.

Teenager heavily involved

19-year-old left-back Zac Ashworth looks to be playing a huge part within the senior squad so far.

Ashworth, who is predominantly part of the Baggies’ under-23 team has been heavily involved with the first team in the training footage to date and this could point towards him playing a much bigger role in competitive matches in 22/23.

The Welsh defender made just three appearances for the senior squad across last season - two in the Championship and one in the FA Cup but could be one to look out for moving forward.

Daryl Dike fighting fit

Last year’s big marquee January signing had a terrible start to his Albion career no thanks to injury.

The American who joined on a permanent deal from Orlando City made just two appearances following his big money move but looks to have now - fingers crossed - put his troubles behind him.

Dike has been seen training hard on the grass both with and without the ball and looks set to kick on for what could well be a big campaign for him personally.

Battle for number one

Following the departure of Sam Johnstone after the expiry of his contract, there’s a new battle for the number one spot at the Hawthorns and it appears to be shaping up nicely.

Alex Palmer and David Button are said to be the man going head-to-head for the position with the latter seemingly edging it for now.

However, young stopper Josh Griffiths looks to be having an incredible training camp, leaving Bruce with a few head scratchers ahead of him.

New boys slotting in well

Steve Bruce’s two signings to date, John Swift and Jed Wallace, look to be settling in to their new environment nicely.

Plenty of footage has emerged of them with beaming smiles on their faces as they take in their new surroundings and carry on getting to know their new teammates.

The latest extended video also shows a lovely first time finish into small nets from Wallace from some distance. Good content.

Cedric Kipre’s hair

We can’t finish off the list without a mention to Kipre’s hair, either.

The centre-back, who had lost his place towards the back end of last season, has returned to the squad with a fresh looking new trim.

Dreadlocked up, half of it is dyed bleach blonde and he looks the business.

On a more serious note, the Ivorian looks to have returned to training in elite physical condition as he looks to bag himself a starting-berth in the next campaign,

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