Interviews

Slaven’s Millwall pre-match press conference

Slaven Bilić has spoken about a wide range of topics ahead of this weekend’s Sky Bet Championship clash with Millwall.

Albion are looking to build on a positive opening day win at Nottingham Forest when they host the Lions in their first competitive Hawthorns outing of the 2019/20 campaign on Saturday (ko 3pm).

The Baggies boss addressed a host of subjects while being quizzed by the national and local media, and you can watch his full press conference in the video above.

Slaven on the transfer window…

“I’m very pleased, I think we did well. We signed players in the positions we wanted to and therefore I’m quite happy with that.

"We have a good squad now. It’s exactly what we wanted.

“It’s a good feeling, and all of those players are more or less fit, or maybe they’re going to need a couple of weeks to get fit. But we are there, we are happy.”

On his deadline day recruits…

“We got Charlie (Austin), he is a proven goalscorer. He’s a top player, he’s a top age, he looked slim when he was here yesterday and today he looks good, he’s hungry.

“He’s not only a player that scores goals, he is also the player that lifts up the team with his energy and I think he’s going to enjoy it with us. He wants to play, he wants to score goals, he wants to help the team.

“We brought in Grady (Diangana), who of course I know from my time at West Ham although he was very young. Last season under Manuel Pellegrini he made an explosion, in a positive way.

“He needed a move, we spoke on the phone, it’s a perfect match. He’s one of the wingers that we wanted, that we need. A quick player that can play, and is dangerous for a goal.

“(Matheus) Pereira, the player from Sporting Lisbon, it began four or five weeks ago. Last year he was on loan in Germany, at FC Nürnberg. I follow the Bundesliga and I have many friends there, they told me about him and we watched him and we all liked him. He showed a big determination to come here to West Brom.

“(Chris) Willock is a young player that the club signed on loan from Benfica, and who was at Arsenal. He is one of those young players that will lift up not only the quality but also the energy in our team and our training.”

On Millwall…

“It’s been all about the transfer window but we have a game tomorrow and we are fully concentrated on that. It’s our first home game, we started really well and now we have to prove it at home. It’s always very necessary to have a good home record. You want your fans to be happy, to go home smiling not to the pub!

“We’re going to give everything tomorrow. Millwall started well, they’re a proper Championship team. They die for each other on the pitch, and I love that mentality and determination. They won their first game so they’re full of confidence.”

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