James Morrison: West Brom form revival shows 'character'
Aune Heggebo has been through a rollercoaster of a campaign for Albion and we are not yet out of October.
Albion head coach James Morrison has been pleased to see striker Aune Heggebo ride through a tough spell of form.
The Norwegian frontman endured a poor run in the wake of a controversial suspension earlier in the season, with a bout of illness and a struggle to deliver his usual battling performances.
Last season’s 10-goal top scorer was well below-par in the derby defeats to Wolves and Birmingham and subsequently lost his place.
But Heggebo responded with the winner from the bench at Wrexham, an assist for the last-gasp victory against Blackburn and what appeared to be the winner at Preston last time out - though that strike was this week credited to a Jimmy-Jay Morgan deflection.
"He has come through that period and that's what you want from people who've had a little bit of a tough time,” Morrison told the Express & Star.
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"How do you react? It shows you his character.
"Alright, he knows he hasn't been good enough with his form and his goals.
"But Bo's someone who needs service as well. He's not someone who will be finding it.
"There were a couple of times I felt when we got the ball into him he could've done something.”
Morrison admitted on a couple of occasions he was concerned about the 25-year-old’s form given his importance to the side.
The club were trying to get to the bottom of illness that came after his retrospective ban for the controversial handball goal at Norwich, where Heggebo insisted he wanted to publicly clear his character.
But the striker has responded admirably and has put himself at the forefront of Morrison’s thoughts when it comes to a return to the starting line-up for Saturday’s big clash at West Ham.
The head coach added that the equaliser goal at Preston, eventually credited to Morgan, summed up his side’s reluctance to make the most of openings on goal.
"Before his goal I felt it should've been a goal anyway,” Morrison added.
"It went through bodies - his goal, I didn't think we had the right to score from Bo's chance! We should've buried it.”