West Brom v Hull: Steve Bruce calls for patience but demands improvement
Steve Bruce insists he is enjoying the challenge of the Albion job, but has demanded improvement from his side ahead of tomorrow’s visit of Hull City.
The Baggies are yet to win in the Championship this season, having drawn three of their opening four league games.
They played out a 0-0 stalemate with Cardiff on Wednesday evening, in a game where they failed to create many chances, and Bruce has demanded more.
He said: “I always knew it was going to be difficult, because it doesn’t always go your way when you drop down from the Premier League into the Championship. If it doesn’t go your way the following year, it becomes a difficult job.
“It’s why I’m here. I’m really enjoying the challenge of it. A week ago I thought we’d made huge strides. I always said we need five or six (signings), and we’ve got three. We’ll keep trying.
“I’ve said always that you’ll need patience. I’m not going to turn it around in four or five months. We’ve got some good players at the club, they’ve been here a long time some of them.
“Whereas Cardiff maybe had eight or 12 new faces, they’re completely different, been able to change their squad and have a huge turnaround.
“We’re starting, but I saw that too often last year when I arrived. That’s the way we were. We huffed and puffed, but there was no real penetration.
“We get ready, go again, keep believing in what we’re doing because we’ve not played too badly this season – but we didn’t get anywhere near where we were last week.”
Okay Yokuslu and Jake Livermore started in midfield, before Jayson Molumby was introduced at half-time for Livermore.
As Albion continue to target additions, Bruce says he will actively rotate his side – and midfielders – to keep players fresh, while he has confirmed that Molumby will start against Hull.
“I thought he (Yokuslu) tired, which I expected him too after making the change with Jake,” added Bruce.
“It was demanding on him to play 90, he’s only just been in the club a few weeks. He will certainly be ready for Saturday if he recovers for then.
“There will be rotation in the middle. Jayson was unlucky not to play but I told him before the game he was playing on Saturday.”
Albion have ambitions of promotion back to the Premier League this season, with many supporters targeting at least a place in the play-offs.
They impressed in the draw with promotion favourites Watford and Bruce is eager to set that standard for the season.
Bruce said: “We played just as well at Blackburn, which was a high bar too. We played OK against Sheffield – we have played OK generally, apart from (against Cardiff), when we didn’t deserve to win it.
“We didn’t create enough, didn’t do enough, so we just have to put a line through it and look to Saturday.”
