West Brom goalscoring hero admits essential partnership to playoff boosting Blackpool victory

West Brom’s Taylor Gardner-Hickman says he’s pleased to have his side back in the playoff places of a “crazy league” after beating Blackpool on Tuesday. The midfielder scored Albion’s second after Brandon Thomas-Asante backheeled into the net following a corner.

It was Gardner-Hickman’s second goal for the Baggies after graduating from the club’s academy in 2021, and he believes his second-half strike was down to his partnership with fellow midfielder John Swift. “Me and Swifty have a good relationship off the field,” the midfielder told WBATV.

“I thought he was going to shoot to be fair. But no, I was ready and I was confident when the chance fell to me.

"The feeling (of scoring) just gets better and better, really, nothing can top it. Especially to come on and help the lads, it’s really what it’s all about.

"Obviously it’s a massive stage in the season, so to get that goal and that 2-0 gap was important. I was just delighted for the boys.”

The 21-year-old’s goal secured a crucial three points amidst a helter-skelter Championship playoff race and Gardner-Hickman was well aware of the significance of their victory. "To get that win is massive,” he said. “The numerous meetings we have inside the training ground, it’s always about togetherness, team spirit and competitiveness. When the performance isn’t there, if you compete then you can always win.

"It’s been drilled into us. The lads in there are all really close anyway, we’re like a big family. That helps us out there. It’s a strange league and we all know what can happen in it.

"We know Sunday is a massive game but we’re going to take one game at a time, don’t look more than a game ahead. I think at home with the crowd behind us, obviously, our record has been great there, we can take all that confidence into the game, perform well, compete well and hopefully, in the end, get a massive result."