[ad_pod ]
This article is part of Football FanCast's Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers...
West Brom’s summer arrival Romaine Sawyers has lauded teammate Chris Brunt in an interview with the club's official website.
What’s he said?
Sawyers re-joined the Hawthorns this summer for around £3m from fellow Championship outfit Brentford, returning to the club that handed him his first professional contract in football.
The 27-year-old has played in every minute of their seven Championship matches so far this season as manager Slaven Bilic has guided his side to an unbeaten start.
Watch West Bromwich Albion Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below
No midfielder in the league has been better with the ball than he has, averaging a passing success rate of 92.1%, per WhoScored.
Bilic brought in new faces over the summer but some still remain from the previous regime including Chris Brunt.
He has received a massive compliment from Sawyers despite only featuring for four minutes this league campaign.
He said:
“Sounds ridiculous but just playing alongside him [Brunt] still excites me. I'm in training and he's still a class act.
“He wants to push you to new boundaries – as does the manager.
“The platform is there for us to take the next step. I need to push myself to be the best I can be and hopefully that resonates with everyone else.”
A big influence
Brunt has been at the Hawthorns since 2007 – that’s a year before Sawyers even earned his first professional contract at the club which really puts it into perspective.
Therefore, it is easy to see why the 5 foot 9 midfielder holds the Northern Irishman in such high regard.
As a young player, he was probably the one player to look up to, and he’s since gone on to make 412 appearances in the blue and white stripes.
In that time Sawyers has left the club and gone on to play permanently for two others in Walsall and Brentford.
At 34 years of age, time is certainly not on Brunt’s side, but it’s clear to see he still plays a huge role in the squad, even if he’s not getting much game time.
Judging by the way Sawyers looks up to Brunt, it's unsurprising that he was Brentford's captain for a period of time.