Salomon Rondon determined to increase West Brom goal tally

Record signing Salomon Rondon is confident he can better his goals tally from last season in his second Albion campaign.

The 26-year-old netted 10 times in his first season for the Baggies after a £12million move from Russian side Zenit St Petersburg.

It took him a while to acclimatise to England and the Premier League, and there were growing murmurs among fans at Christmas when Rondon was sent off for head-butting Bournemouth's Dan Gosling having scored just three times all season.

But seven goals in a more fruitful second half of the campaign suggested he was growing into the role.

He finished the season with back-to-back goals against Bournemouth and Liverpool, and then bagged four times in six games for Venezuela.

The big South American enters pre-season off the back of six goals in eight games for club and country, and he's determined to keep finding the net for the Baggies.

"I scored goals for Albion and also for Venezuela at the end of last season so I am coming into the new season with lots of confidence," said Rondon.

"It's very important for me to score goals and I hope to score more this year than I did last year.

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"This pre-season is very important for us and we have to make sure we are physically prepared for the new season."

Rondon scored against Costa Rica and Guatemala in international friendlies, before notching two goals in the Copa America against Jamaica and Argentina.

His efforts helped fire Venezuela to an unlikely quarter-final berth at the competition.

Despite his appearance in a summer competition, Rondon has travelled with the squad to Austria for their week-long fitness camp and is expected to be available for Wednesday's friendly against Paris Saint-Germain at the Schladming Athletic Area.

"I am fit and well and ready for the new season," said the striker.

"I feel very good, confident and happy.

"The Copa America was very good for me and my national team.

"We played very well but unfortunately we were eliminated by Argentina in the quarter-finals."

Concerns that Rondon was another expensive flop like £10m man Brown Ideye have started to ebb away.

He noticeably improved as his first season wore on and head coach Tony Pulis is expecting him to kick on again and have a 'big year' next season.

"He's a good player," said Pulis towards the end of last season. "He's found it hard at times, the pace and the intensity of this league.

"It's his first year with us in England, the language and everything else.

"But his attitude has been fantastic and we're looking forward to him having a big year next season.

"If you speak to him he's probably missed six or seven chances he would normally put away."

After a few gruelling three-session days, the Baggies are enjoying a social day in Austria today.

The players and staff are going white water rafting this afternoon on a team bonding exercise.