Baggies heading to Spanish training camp

Mel gets chance to work with players away from biting British weather

ALBION will escape the biting British winter by heading to Spain on Thursday for a warm-weather training camp.

The Baggies have no fixture this weekend and following tomorrow’s game with Chelsea (ko 8pm) will fly to Jerez for six days.

The mid-winter trip - planned before the season started - will also give new head coach Pepe Mel chance to work more closely with his players.

“The mid-season training camp is something we’ve had in mind since this time last year,” said Albion Sporting & Technical Director Richard Garlick.

“Our form has dipped around this period in previous seasons and we’ve looked at ways we might break that cycle.

“Warm-winter training is something we decided on from a performance and coaching point of view.

“The only question was when we would fit it into the schedule and going out of the FA Cup has presented us with a window.

“The added bonus is it gives Pepe as a new head coach an excellent opportunity to get six days solid work with the players in better conditions than we’re experiencing in this country currently.

“We’ve checked the facilities out beforehand and they are very good.

“Pepe’s used the facilities before and they are used by other top European clubs.”

Copyright 2014 WEST BROMWICH ALBION FOOTBALL CLUB LTD. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.wba.co.uk as the source.

West Bromwich Albion, WBA and Baggies are registered trademarks of West Bromwich Albion Football Club Ltd. The club is also known as West Brom.