How former Sunderland striker Josh Maja has fared at West Brom

Transcript

00:00 You mentioned Josh Madger there, so we'll come on to him. He joined West Bronx on a

00:04 free transfer in the summer but picked up an injury earlier in the season, or was it

00:08 around pre-season?

00:09 That's right, yeah.

00:10 So how has he fared in the few appearances that he's made for West Bronx?

00:17 Well, interestingly, and I've written something on it for the morning actually, so maybe keep

00:22 an eye out, but he's still waiting for a first start. So there have been a number of cameos

00:27 and obviously I mentioned that first goal last time out last weekend. Obviously, minimal

00:32 pre-season really, not being attached to a club. Bordeaux tried to keep him, I'm sure

00:36 other sides were looking, but Albion were able to win that race. They weren't able to

00:40 do a lot of business in the summer, but he was their sole. There were two loans and Josh

00:44 Madger on a free, so he was their sole permanent addition. Obviously, minimal pre-season, so

00:49 comes in lacking real summer work, if you know what I mean, like the friendlies and

00:54 the match fitness and all of that. So we were beyond August and into September and he was

01:01 still not ready to start games. He started coming off from the bench and doing okay,

01:06 a bit of ring rust and all of that. And then we were getting sort of early to mid-September

01:10 and he was starting to look bitter and sharper and start to look the part. And there was

01:15 a game down at Ashton Gate in Bristol City and he'd come on and it was the brightest

01:20 he'd been. He was excellent in that cameo. And in the final seconds of stoppage time,

01:25 Albion were screaming for a penalty, they thought they had a penalty, for a foul challenge

01:29 on Madger in the box. Nothing was given, but the foul injured Madger's ankle. And for the

01:36 best part, two months actually. So he spent mid-September till probably mid-November out,

01:42 which was a real setback, to be honest. When I talk about them not being able to do anything

01:45 in the summer, the one permanent addition they make, we have big plans and high hopes

01:49 for when he's, first of all, has to build up his fitness, then he gets injured for a

01:52 couple of months. It's tough.