Ireland international Keith Andrews is already eyeing up a long-term future with West Brom following a dream debut in last week’s mauling of Wolves.
Dublin born Andrews, who started his career with Wolves in 1999, playing in 72 matches over six years, scored West Brom’s fourth goal in the 5-1 rout at Molineux.
Andrews has admitted that he would like to make the move permanent.
'I would certainly be open to a longer deal,' said Andrews.
'I have come here to play for a head coach I want to play for and a club I believe is run well and has a good set of lads that I enjoy coming in and working with every day.
'I enjoy being part of the team, so I am certainly open to it and I'm sure if I keep going the way I am then the club will be as well.
'I was delighted just to get on and make my debut and I was delighted with the result.
'The score, and to win by that margin, was Roy of the Rovers stuff. It was a dream come true.'
31 year old Andrews will be keen to get as much game time as possible for the Baggies over the next few months as he wants to remain firmly within Giovanni Trapattoni’s thoughts for a starting birth in the Irish midfield for the upcoming Euro finals in Poland later this year.
Ireland international Simon Cox fired West Brom into the fourth round of the FA Cup with a hat-trick against Cardiff this afternoon.
Cox headed his first home from eight yards after a cross from Baggies captain Nicky Shorey. He doubled his tally in the 61st minute with a scorcher from 25 yards that gave Heaton no chance as it crossed the line after rattling off his post, and he sealed his hat-trick with an easy tap in from an Odemwingie pass.
The Irish striker has recently hinted that he may have to move on during the January transfer window after finding first-team football hard to come by this season.
Cox is very aware that he needs to playing every week if he's to secure a squad spot in Giovanni Trapattoni's European finals squad, and with just two Premier League starts this season he feels a move away from the the Hawthorns may be his best chance of guaranteeing a trip to Poland in June.
Speaking after the game Baggies boss Roy Hodgson said :
"That's a positive for Simon who has taken his chance when it has come along.
"I thought he did very well at Tottenham the other night as well, so with his three goals and his performance today, it's a clear positive for us and for him.
"The way he played today, he clearly showed he deserves a place in the team, and we'll be thinking very seriously about that.
"Simon's a good trainer, good finisher. In the finishing practices he is always right up there, so he has to be pleased with his day's work.
"I'm pleased for him, pleased he's shown he is a Premier League quality player and that he has taken his chance after being given it with great aplomb.
"On both occasions he has been amongst our best players."
In form Ireland international Shane Long today admitted that West Brom must beat Stoke on Sunday to save themselves from a “bad start” to the Premier League season.
The Tipperary born international revealed the Baggies are in high spirits despite two defeats at the start of the season.
But, despite two encouraging performances, Long admitted only victory in Sunday’s Hawthorns clash with the Potters will salvage an acceptable start to the campaign.
He said: “I think we need to get three points against Stoke and then we can look back on the first three games and say ‘three good performances, we’re unlucky to not have more points but we can be proud of our work.’
“But unless we can get those three points it will be a bad start to the season. We have a big week ahead of us and we need to start making all these games count.
“It’s disappointing because we are playing very well and luck is going against us but I think that’s why big teams like Chelsea and Manchester United do so well in the league, because they grind out results and get three points when it matters.
“We need to start learning from the likes of them so, if we do go 1-0 up, we hold onto it and, at least, get one point.
“We need to start punishing them. In the first half on Saturday we could have got maybe two or three goals because they held a very high line and we got in behind them.”
West Brom manager Roberto Di Matteo has not ruled out a renewed bid for Ireland international Marc Wilson but he admits that it will be difficult to force a deal when Portsmouth are not willing to sell their most promising player.
Pompey boss Steve Cotterill revealed last week that his club had rejected a bid from the Premier League Baggies for his County Antrim born captain, with skysports.com having broken the news earlier in August.
Wilson has been excellent for Portsmouth in the opening matches of this season and his versatility makes him an attractive prospect for top-flight new boys West Brom.
Di Matteo has remained evasive when questioned about the possibility of making another approach for Wilson but he does acknowledge that Cotterill is unlikely to sell one of his best players.
"We made an offer for Wilson and it's been rejected," the West Brom boss told the Birmingham Mail. "As he is not our player I won't comment too much on it.
"It's difficult to say what will happen because if a club doesn't want to sell we can't do much."
Ireland u16 international Bradley Garmston certainly has the pedigree to be lightening fast on the left wing for Ireland and West Brom in the future. The Chorley born teenager has been rated as the second fastest 100 & 200m runner in the UK for his age and despite a promising sprinting career has decided to stick with football.
He recently signed a two year scholarship with West Brom having spent the previous two years with their youth teams and was a member of Albion's successful under-15s team who won the National Nike Cup beating Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Arsenal and eventually Everton in the final
Sprinting certainly runs in the family for young Garmston as his mother is former Commonwealth gold medal winner Sonia Lannaman who also competed at 100m & 200m during her highly successful sprinting career.
Sixteen year old Garmston has been a regular in John Morling’s Ireland u15 & u16 teams over the last year and moved up from u15 to u16 level last summer. He recently travelled with Ireland u16’s to take part in the Albufeira 4 Nations Under-16 tournament in Portugal, competing against teams from Italy, Portugal & the Netherlands.
