Defender also hoping injury problems behind him this term
STEVEN Reid is hoping his injury problems are behind him as he aims to help put the ‘fizz’ back in Albion’s season.The Baggies defender made his first start in almost two months in Sunday’s 1-0 defeat by Tottenham after fully recovering from the fractured fibula he suffered at Arsenal in December.
And he now hopes he can fend off competition from Billy Jones for the right-back spot to add to his six Barclays Premier League appearances this term.
“It’s been a frustrating season with a hamstring injury first and then the broken leg incident,” said Reid.
“I had more praise than stick for playing with a broken leg for 70-odd minutes at Arsenal - that number goes up every week!
“It was sore but after the dubious penalty incident I thought there was no way I was coming off.
“It’s in the past now and hopefully I can do my best until the end of the season.”
The Baggies remain ninth in the table thanks primarily to their flying start to the season.
And, after losing three times and drawing once last month, it means the club has not taken more than three points in January for the third successive top-flight campaign.
But Reid is hoping the positive signs the team showed in the first half against Spurs are an omen they can still make it their best-ever Barclays Premier League season.
“It’s hard to put your finger on it and for a lot of clubs January is a difficult period,” he added.
“We haven’t got the biggest squad in the world and a lot of lads have played a lot of games.
“Maybe that’s a factor but we can’t make excuses and we’re trying to do what we did earlier on in the season.
“It’s now about kicking-on for the last stretch of the season, and hopefully putting a run together, because we don’t want the season to just fizzle out now into mid-table or lower.”