Baggies defender's message to fringe players
GARETH McAuley has urged Albion’s fringe players to stay on their toes as the Baggies head towards a hectic December schedule.
Albion wrap up this month with a home derby against Villa and trip to Newcastle before facing six games in 25 days during December.
The likes of Graham Dorrans, Goran Popov and Markus Rosenberg have failed to make the matchday squad in recent weeks while Ben Foster, Scott Sinclair and Zoltan Gera are yet to return from injury.
And McAuley believes the whole squad will be needed throughout the winter.
“Everyone wants to play and everyone has their own pride,” said the Northern Ireland international.
“If you’re not playing, or not making the travelling squad, it can dent your own pride but everyone is professional enough to keep their head down and keep working hard.
“In this game you never know what is around the corner and what is going to happen in the next game, so we need the full squad and need everybody ready to play.”