Wayne Rooney reserves special praise for 'interesting' West Brom star

West Bromwich Albion’s hero was once again Josh Maja, who netted his sixth goal in six Championship matches to claim a 1-0 victory for his side at The Hawthorns.

Another three points sees the Baggies continue their remarkable unbeaten start to the season, with 16 points out of an available 18 racked up so far. Maja has played a vital part in that run, finally providing West Brom a proper and consistent outlet in the centre-forward position.

Rooney, who has led Plymouth to one win, two draws and three defeats in his first half-a-dozen games in charge, made sure to commend Maja for his fine work.

“He’s an interesting player, difficult to prepare for. He drops in and goes into a false nine position, we were aware of that,” Rooney told our sister publication, Express & Star, after Saturday’s match.

“At times I thought we dealt with him OK but when you are a player who is confident in scoring goals they always seem to get that one opportunity and can make the difference.

“I thought we handled him well at times but he comes up with the moment which wins the game. He’s a good player and West Brom are a good team, very experienced and know how to get results,” Rooney said.

Praise from such a legendary former player surely won’t go unnoticed for Maja, who himself is enjoying his best start to an English season. Rooney is of course Manchester United’s record goalscorer and led the England international charts for a long while before Harry Kane took the baton, so he knows a thing or two about hitting the net.