Charlie Austin: West Brom goals were never in doubt
Albion striker Charlie Austin says he was never in any doubt that the goals would start flowing despite his slow start to the campaign.
The 30-year-old joined the Baggies from Southampton in the summer, but only scored two goals in his first 12 games – with only one of those coming in the league.
But he has now scored in each of his last five games for Albion, netting six times, after his brace won his side the game in the 3-2 comeback victory over Birmingham on Saturday.
And Austin insists he has always been confident that the goals would come.
“Absolutely. I never had any doubt that I would score goals,” he said. “I was just off to a slow start but we kept winning.
“I knew for a fact that if we were winning without me scoring goals then when I started scoring we were still going to be flying.
“It’s going really well on a personal note but it’s seven points from the last three games.
“Would I have taken that at the start of the week? No, because I wanted nine.
“We always want to win every game and that’s the confidence we’ve got in the team at the moment.
“But after the result on Wednesday we knew we had to come here and win and put pressure on the teams playing at 3 o’clock.”
The victory away to Birmingham came after a 1-1 draw away to Wigan where an Austin equaliser earned West Brom a point.
Despite being unbeaten in the last two results, the performances have been below the standard set by Slaven Bilic’s season so far.
And Austin, who has mostly been used as a substitute in recent weeks, says that can be frustrating but that winning is more important.
“Of course (it can be frustrating), that’s part and parcel of it,” he said.
“You want to show your emotions and be part of it and you want to kick and do everything you can for the team.
“Winning is what it’s about.
“That’s what happens when you’re up at the top and nicking points.
“When you’re down at the bottom you could play brilliantly and get done with a sucker punch.
“That’s football and that’s why everybody gets so frustrated or so full of emotion with it.
“It’s a great win for us.”
