On-loan striker also reveals he's found home from home at Albion
ROMELU Lukaku has made it his mission to ensure there are no more stunned silences like the one in the Baggies’ dressing room after Saturday’s ‘devastating’ 3-2 defeat at Reading.
The on-loan Chelsea striker’s double looked to have secured victory for Albion at the Madejski Stadium.
But the Royals’ three-goal blast in the final nine minutes snatched all three points away from Steve Clarke’s men.
It left Lukaku pondering if he could have done better with the two efforts he struck against the woodwork with the score at 1-0.
“It looked good, but if you score two goals and don’t win it doesn’t matter,” said the 19-year-old hitman.
“I play football to win and we lost.
“I scored two goals but it wasn’t enough for the win so I am devastated and disappointed.
“It means I didn’t work hard enough and I didn’t score the other opportunities that I had or make the maximum of them.
“Things are going in the right direction for me and I’m scoring a few more goals. But we didn’t win, and if I score and we don’t win that doesn’t really count for me.
“I want to score goals and win as well. Next time, I need to work harder and do better for the team.
“I’m a striker and I have to score goals and make sure, with my team-mates, that we win.
“If you don’t win the only solution is to do more.”
He added: “No-one said anything after the game.
“It was very quiet. That’s normal.
“You can’t say anything after a game like that because emotions are so high.
“One wrong word can unleash something so it’s better to keep quiet and have a think about it, then keep going and try to win and work harder.
“We trained hard last week but we lost the game. You have to move on and look at the next game.
“We have to think about what went wrong, but now it’s all about QPR on Tuesday because we want to get to the next round of the FA Cup.
“Then we have Villa again, which is a big game for us and the fans.
“We have to go on and work hard.”
The Belgium international leads the Baggies’ scoring pack with nine goals and is relishing life so much at The Hawthorns he is eager to remain with Steve Clarke’s seventh-placed side beyond his season-long loan.
“These next two years – hopefully at West Brom – will be very good for me to improve and then I will hopefully build up to a great career,” said Lukaku.
“Hopefully, after the January window, we will start talking about that, which would be good for me.
“Over the next two years, it’s very important for me to play. We have a good squad here with potential to improve and a head coach that can help me every day.
“Hopefully, if I can continue like that I can get more regular football.
“When you’re somewhere you have to be connected with the people and in a good environment.
“That’s where I am now. It’s similar to Anderlecht.
“There are nice people who want you to improve and everyone is open to you.
“That’s why I want to play well here and I want to win.
“I came to England after two years of playing regular football, playing 100 games – including in the Europa League and Champions League – and then for a year I didn’t play.
“I know that in football it can change very quickly.”