Dwight Gayle backed to hit form in front of goal for West Brom

The Newcastle loanee ended a minor drought against Birmingham City with a header straight after half-time.

Chris Brunt was the man who put that free-kick on Gayle’s head, and believes it will spark a run of form for the 28-year-old.

“He’s not scored for a few games, but to be fair he goes out and work his socks off every game no matter what he’s asked to do,” said Brunt.

“Playing through the middle again, he looks a lot sharper and more like himself.

“He took his goal really well. He’s really good at that. Even my one a couple of weeks ago against Swansea, he causes mayhem and it goes straight in.

“I’m delighted for him to get a goal. He leads the line well for someone who’s not that tall.

“He puts himself about and is a pest. He and Jay Rod have got a good partnership going and hopefully they can keep that going.”

Gayle now has 17 goals this season, and his six-game drought was his longest of the campaign.

But the striker, who admitted feeling relieved after scoring, is now targeting a run of form in front of goal.

“It’s been a long time coming,” admitted Gayle. “It’s been a frustrating few months for myself in front of goal. It was nice to get one.

“You could see it with my celebration, there was relief. Hopefully I can go on a little run now and help the team.”

He has a long-running competition with strike-partner Rodriguez over who can finish top scorer.

Rodriguez moved onto 19 goals for the campaign against Birmingham City after converting his seventh penalty of the season.

It means the Baggies have scored all seven of their spot-kicks this season, while their opponents have only converted one out of six.

“Jay’s pretty confident from the spot this season,” said Brunt. “It was a good win and puts pressure on the teams above us.”