Roberto Di Matteo promised Albion will compete in the Premier League next season as fans gathered at The Hawthorns to hail their promotion heroes.

The Baggies’ promotion-winning head coach accompanied award-winning players to last night’s West Bromwich Albion Supporters’ Club end-of-season awards dinner.

He fielded questions from the audience and pledged his side will not be in the top-flight to make up the numbers.

“We need to have good players and we need a good group of professionals who create a good team spirit and fight for each other,” Di Matteo said. “We will be competitive whatever happens, but the key thing is to have good players.

“It’s not a question of numbers, it’s about quality. We’ve got a core group of players and we would like to build something with this group and add a bit more quality to be competitive in the Premier League.”

Di Matteo, who has led the Baggies back to the Premier League in his first season in charge, told the audience he is relishing the chance to lock horns with England’s best managers.

The Italian said: “I am still a baby as a manager and I am going to try to become a child next season. I will have to grow up.

“It’s going to be exciting and very interesting to confront the best teams in the country, probably some of the best teams in the world.

“There are some of the best players in the world in the Premier League and certainly some of the best managers in the world.”

More than 200 fans attended despite the supporters’ club, led by chairman John Homer and secretary Alan Cleverley, planning the event in just eight days.

And midfielder Graham Dorrans was the star of the night as he picked up the main player of the season award and seven of the branch awards. Centre-back Jonas Olsson was runner-up in the main award.

The Swede said: “I am very honoured. It is a team with a lot of quality footballers and being chosen as the second best makes me very proud. It is rarely a good thing to be second but the way Dozza has performed this season has been on another level.”

Midfielder Robert Koren collected the goal of the season award for his long-range winner in the 1-0 victory over Sheffield Wednesday in March.

Claire Astle, daughter of Baggies legend Jeff, handed Chris Brunt the leading League scorer’s trophy for his 13 goals in the Championship campaign.

England youth international George Thorne was named Albion’s academy player of the year while New Zealand international Chris Wood was young player of the year.

Dorrans was named player of the year by the Thailand, Walsall, Kidderminster, Redditch and Brandhall branches as well as the supporters’ club’s golf society and event sponsors AA Jewellery.

Olsson won the awards from the Droitwich and Hitchin branches and Brunt was the Gloucestershire branch winner.