Nick Clayton-Phillips has revealed he’s seizing the opportunity to learn from his more experienced teammates in what has so far been an encouraging campaign for Albion’s Premier League 2 side.
The winger, talking ahead of the young Baggies’ fixture against Swansea City this evening (ko 7pm), is looking to build on his brace last time out - a 4-2 triumph at Norwich that lifted them up to fifth in the PL2 Division Two table.
He credited a conversation with fellow attacker Chris Willock as the inspiration for his second strike against the Canaries, and is hopeful his team can carry on their good start to the season at home to the Swans.
“I like playing with more experienced players,” said Nick.
“For some players it can be quite hard as they will have to drop out of the team in order for them to play. Fortunately I have kept my place in the team and playing alongside players like Chris is really good. You can take things from his game and implement it into yours, so it is beneficial.
“I spoke to Chris after the Scunthorpe game because he was getting in the right positions and scored twice. Funnily enough, against Norwich for my second goal he had told me to hang back when the ball is on the other side and then go in late and that is exactly what I did.
“Overall it has been a good but quite challenging season so far. I had a really good pre-season and scored in my first game but then I went on a bit of a goal drought for a few games and then I scored two against Norwich, so I feel like it is picking up again now.
“It was quite a tough game at Norwich, they had some good players playing like Patrick Roberts who is on loan from Man City. But as a whole team though I think we did well. We took our chances when they came and defended well - it was a good game to play in.
“The two goals for me were important. I’ve been speaking to Deon Burton about getting in at the back post a lot more and coming alive more in the box and that was where both of my goals came from so it was very pleasing to get them.
“We believe Swansea are going to be a compact team so we are going to use the pitch, especially as it is at The Hawthorns which is a big pitch so hopefully it will benefit us more. I’m a Baggies fan so every time I play at The Hawthorns is a good feeling.”
Tickets for this evening's clash are £5 adults, £1 concessions and free for season ticket holders.