James Morrison opens up on the West Brom 'training demand' with Conor Townsend addition

James Morrison has backed returning Albion recruit Conor Townsend to push Callum Styles as welcome competition.

Townsend, 33, became the club’s fifth new signing of the summer at the end of last week as he moved back to the Black Country after two years away with Ipswich.

The experienced left-back played in excess of 200 appearances for the club in his first stint across six years but saw opportunities restricted in Suffolk, latterly due to an ACL injury which meant no minutes in the Championship last season.

But head coach Morrison reckons Townsend, who has been training on the comeback trail since March, will be just the type of personality to provide the right competition to the influential Styles behind the scenes.

“He obviously left Ipswich and I know what he brings, experience and competition for Styles,” Morrison said.

“I like the way he trains. So he'd be one to push the group and help the young players as well.

“That's what I want. I want competition. I want hungry players. I want people to be at the football club.

“I demand training to be at a standard, which creates competition. So, yes, the more competition we have, the performance level will go up.”

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Styles missed just one Championship fixture last season on his way to two Albion player of the season gongs.

Townsend takes on the role of last season’s loanee Charlie Taylor, who spent a season at the club as a back-up option.

The returning Townsend played just 10 times for the Tractor Boys and his last competitive appearance came in April 2025. He could have the opportunity for first Albion minutes in Saturday’s final pre-season friendly against League One side Peterborough at London Road.

Townsend’s last game for Albion was the play-off semi-final defeat at Southampton in May 2024.

Morrison’s side again caught the eye with a 4-1 friendly victory over Shrewsbury, of League Two, on Saturday.

The head coach with pleased with how his troops took the game against a side content to sit in a defensive shape and look to keep the Baggies at bay.

New attacker Jimmy-Jay Morgan made his impact felt again with two goals and a hand in the other two to continue his bright start

“I want them to push themselves in these games,” added the head coach. “I want us to be ready physically.

“Because our start is difficult. So we're going to be tested with the intensity at the start of the season. So we need to keep pushing.

“The lads had a bit of fatigue going into the game on Saturday, because we worked hard in training this week.

“I was really pleased with what I watched of the other game (late 3-1 training ground defeat against Notts County), with young players driving each other on.”