Express & Star

Darren Moore: I want my West Brom team to excite

Darren Moore insists he wants to carry on playing exciting football on the front foot this season.

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Darren Moore. (AMA)

The Baggies travel to third-placed Sheffield United this Friday with just one clean sheet in the league, and the record across all four divisions for the highest number of goals in their games.

But Moore, who has seen his side slip to fifth after-back-to-back draws, believes a bold approach is the way forward and one that will be well-received by supporters.

“Coming in as a head coach, I’ve always wanted to see this place vibrant, see it with a bouncy atmosphere with unity right throughout the club,” he said. “That’s really important for me, to see the place in full voice.

“If you can provide that with exciting football, that’s great, because for me, it goes from the stands into the community.

"As a player, I felt I had the power on a Saturday to perform to the best of my ability and send them home happy. That hasn’t changed.

“I’ve always wanted to play football on the front foot as a head coach and that’s the way we’ve done it this season.”

Moore accepts there is still work to be done on his team, but believes progress has been made, particularly in front of goal.

“There’s excitement with all the goals being scored,” he said. “It shows where we’ve been as a team and that the transition I wanted was right for the club. It was needed and much more will be needed going forward.

“Even with that impressive (goals for) stat there’s still work to be done. There’s a long way to go and you have to keep improving.

“All I ever do is in the best interests of West Brom and that won’t ever change. The football club is engrained in me.”

But he’s not expecting any chance to take stock over the busy festive period.

“You try to enjoy it but because of the fixture list it’s hard to rest back,” he said. “The fixture list doesn’t really allow you to enjoy it over an extended period.

“The games will come thick and fast. You try and develop from those games, there’s no hidden formula it’s just hard work on the training ground.”

Meanwhile, Albion legend Brendon Batson is being awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Warwick in recognition of his contribution to football.