Express & Star

Joleon Lescott backed by West Brom old-boys

Albion new-boy Joleon Lescott was today tipped to make a success of crossing the Black Country divide – by two men who did the same.

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Ally Robertson and Don Goodman, who both played successfully for the Baggies and Wolves, believe ex-Molineux favourite Lescott can become a Hawthorns hero after making a free-transfer switch from Manchester City.

Lescott, who made 235 appearances for Wolves, will meet his new Albion team-mates for the first time next Monday and will compete with Gareth McAuley and Jonas Olsson for places at the heart of Alan Irvine's defence.

Robertson, who played more than 600 times for Albion before captaining Wolves to back-to-back promotions, said: "When I started at Wolves I got a lot of stick, but you get on with your game and, once you start winning, all that is gone.

"If we (Albion) have a bad start and don't win games he will get a bit of stick. But as long as things go well and people can see he's trying, he'll be fine.

"He's a great signing for us and you can only hope we will sign three, four or five other players of that standard."

Lescott opted for Albion over Hull and Stoke and has attracted some criticism from Wolves fans, but has been largely welcomed by Baggies supporters. Goodman was criticised by some Albion fans when he moved to Molineux from Sunderland in 1994 after previously playing more than 175 times and scoring 63 goals for the Hawthorns club.

He said: "I get stick from a very, very small percentage of West Brom fans who will always resent me for pulling on the gold shirt.

"I don't think I could have contemplated moving straight from one to the other but I went there as a career move to get to the Premier League and I'm sure most West Brom fans would understand it, even if they don't like it.

"Maybe there would have been a possibility of Joleon going back to Wolves if they were in the Premier League but they're not at this moment in time and West Brom are."

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