England keeper says competition up front is white hot
BEN Foster believes Albion's 'on fire' strike-force is ready to light up the Barclays Premier League.
Summer signing Nicolas Anelka netted seven goals in as many pre-season games while four-goal Markus Rosenberg, Shane Long and Saido Berahino all contributed to the Baggies’ five friendly victories.
And the 30-year-old keeper, who today joins up with England ahead of Wednesday's Wembley date with Scotland, reckons the fierce competition for a starting place up front bodes well for the new campaign, which kicks off on Saturday.
“They are all looking really good,” said Foster.
“We’re so lucky that we’ve got four strikers who have been on fire in pre-season.
“A lot of people said that Markus didn’t really cut the mustard last season but I think he was a bit unlucky, really.
“He’s had a really good pre-season and looks on fire in training.
“He’s up there with the best finishers I’ve seen.
“If he can transfer what he’s done in pre-season onto a Premier League matchday, we’ve got an absolute world-beater because he just has a knack of finding the corners.
“For a 34-year-old, Nico’s in incredible shape.
“He hasn’t got an ounce of fat on him. He’s pure muscle!
“He’s going to be a huge asset for us this season and as long as he can stay fit he should grab quite a few goals.
“He’s going to be the one that we look to to score most of our goals - and I think he can and will.
“Shane has been really good in pre-season training as well.
“He has been on fire and he’s somebody we look to to get the whole team going.
“It starts from the front and everybody feeds off that - when he’s running around, chasing people down, chasing lost causes that other people wouldn’t bother with.
“The rest of the team follow his lead and he can be huge for us this season.
“We’ve got a lot of options for the gaffer to mull over and decide what he’s going to do.
“That’s where I think we’re quite lucky.”