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Slaven Bilic: West Brom working to help Romaine Sawyers improve

Head coach Slaven Bilic is working closely with Romaine Sawyers to help the midfielder establish himself in the Premier League.

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The 28-year-old was a key figure in Albion's promotion to the top flight – with Sawyers starting 42 Championship games and achieving a pass completion rate of 90 per cent.

But the midfielder has struggled to impose himself on matches since the new campaign got underway and was left out of the squad that drew at Brighton last Monday.

Sawyers has increased competition in the middle of the park this term with Jake Livermore, Conor Gallagher, Filip Krovinovic, Sam Field and Rekeem Harper all battling for a starting spot.

But Bilic is adamant the former Brentford man has what it takes to shine in the Premier League.

"We have extra competition, but we need Romaine," the boss said.

"We need good Romaine, we need the Romaine who can dominate the games.

“That’s what we want from him. We want him how he played last season, especially in the first half of last season where he was - from my point of view - the best midfielder in the Championship.

“That’s what we want from him, because firstly this is a very important position for the team offensively and defensively.

“He is one of the main players for us.

"We weren’t that active in the transfer window in that position, because of the budget but also because of him and I believe in him.

“But he has to do it on the pitch and everyday in training. It’s very simple what I want from him, very simple.

"He’s a player who thinks a lot, very clever. He likes to talk. He’s a player I speak to a lot.

“Not only now, but since I came here. He knows exactly what I want from him and what the team needs from him. He wants the same, to be fair.

“Are we going to help him and am I going to help him? Definitely. But he has to be the one who is going to provoke it on the pitch, with the help of everyone else.”

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