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Jake Livermore: Promotion only part one of West Brom plans

Jake Livermore says reaching the Premier League was just phase one of Albion’s long-term blueprint for success.

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Jake Livermore (AMA)

And the skipper has vowed Slaven Bilic’s squad will be in great shape when the season kicks off on September 12 – with the team currently enjoying a week-long training camp at St George’s Park.

It was just over a month ago that the Baggies won promotion to the Premier League.

But after a short break, they are now back in training and preparing or life back in the big time.

And Livermore is pleased with how preparations are going.

“We know what last season meant to us to get up from the Championship, but the challenge ahead needs to mean even more to us now,” the 30-year-old said.

“Getting to the Premier League is just the first part of this and now it’s about working to keep us there and stabilising.

“The boys are absolutely buzzing and really enjoying being back and preparing for a Premier League season.

“I did wonder how it would be as we haven’t had too much of a break.

“But the lads have been first class since they came back in last week.

“The facilities here are at St George’s Park are among the best in the country, if not the best.

“There’s nowhere we’d rather be as we ramp up our training ahead of the new season.

“I think an important factor in any pre-season is to get the lads together in some form of camp, so they can spend plenty of time together on and off the pitch.

“Obviously, we haven’t been apart for too long, and we’re only a few miles up the road.

“But it’s still a good opportunity to get the lads to focus on what’s next.

“We’ll be working hard this week to get our fitness levels right back up to where they were before we start playing pre-season friendlies which will again only help us prepare for the new season.”