Bednar: I'll repay Baggies

Bednar clinched a season-long loan deal minutes before the transfer window closed on Friday to become the Baggies' 13th summer signing.

And the giant Czech striker insists it's exactly the fresh challenge he needs after becoming frustrated by a succession of niggling injuries and the behind-the-scenes politics at Tynecastle.

There are more than 60 players on the Jambos' books and Bednar said he was unhappy with the direction the club had taken on and off the field under the direction of owner Vladimir Romanov.

"It's been my dream from the beginning to play in England," said Bednar, who has joined Albion with a view to a permanent move next summer.

"I thought I might stay at Hearts for one more year but I didn't want to stay there any more. There were bad things happening there so I was happy to move.

"There are a lot of players there but it wasn't about that because I felt that if I was fit I would play there.

"But the question was how they played there – I was unhappy with everything. I needed a fresh challenge because I just didn't like what's going on at Hearts now."

Bednar is well known to Albion's sporting and technical director Simon Hunt, who was chief scout to George Burley during his brief spell in charge at Hearts.

The former Mlada Boleslav targetman started that season with three goals in eight games as Hearts went top of the SPL before Burley was bizarrely sacked, and he's eager to recapture that form.

"I want to try to recapture the sort of form I showed when I first moved to Hearts," said Bednar, who has an outside chance of playing for the reserves at Walsall next week.

"But the problem was my fitness and I spent a lot of time there injured. I had lots of different injuries.

"I need a couple more days working on my fitness and then I hope I can be back playing in two weeks.

"The gaffer's told me not to rush back because that was one of the reasons why I had no many injuries."