West Brom's Rayo Vallecano key takeaways: Old school, Heggem hole and a need for a lot more in one department

After a few under par displays in pre-season, Albion welcomed the La Liga side Rayo Vallecano to The Hawthorns.

And after initially being in the back foot early on, the Baggies impressed in spells of the game with the season opener against Blackburn just seven days away.

All five goals in the clash came in the final quarter of the game and Jonny Drury looks at some key points to come from the victory:

Change of system - old school

Mason has adopted the popular 4-2-3-1 this pre-season so far, and that has looked likely to be what he plays going forward.

But we saw a difference against Vallecano and you have to say for long periods it worked really well.

Karlan Grant started up front with Aune Heggebo in a front two - and it looked like Albion were comfortable in that system.

Of course it is fluid and can be called other things in different parts of the game, but on the face it was an old school 4-4-2.

Maybe that is the way Mason sees Albion playing.. A solid base in the middle, and a striker, or certainly a forward, closer to the main striker.

If it worked for long spells against La Liga opposition, maybe it will work going forward in the league.

The Heggem hole could be huge

All the talk prior to kick off was the £10m bid for Torbjorn Heggem from Bologna. Some thought he may not be in the side today given the negotiations that are ongoing.

But he played, and he showcased just how good he is, how key he is, and how much of a massive gap there is going to be in the Albion side.

There is all the talk around it being a good move business wise for Albion, which it would be - but the blow to the side is also massive.

Heggem didn't skip a beat against a side that finished eighth in La Liga. They are a decent side.

But Heggem looked unfazed, at times not looking like he was out of second gear. He was comfortable and looked even more assured than last year.

It underlined how he could be a big loss.

Johnston looking lively

Mikey Johnston's campaign last season was about average.

He didn't set the world alight like he did in his loan spell - but he was okay. He did a job, but we wanted more.

It looked like his future may be elsewhere with interest from Flamengo, but he has returned to Albion and the reports from other pre-season outings have been positive.

And his display against Vallecano showed an extra spring, extra sharpness and maybe a bit of a point to prove.

Johnston will no doubt want more and at times against the La Liga outfit, he had the beating of the full backs.

He still is a big asset with potentially a big season ahead of him.

They need more - depth

The line-up saw no Daryl Dike or Tammer Bany after their injuries and Josh Maja was out having appeared briefly against Lincoln.

Isaac Price was on the bench, which was largely made up of fringe players and a couple of youngsters.

What it showed is that with the injuries as they are at the moment, Albion need more. We knew that already, we have said that this week they need three or four more.

But they need depth too. If isn't just about having one or two more starters coming in, they need ore strength in depth.

The striker and forward situation means they are a lack of players to come off the bench and influence a game. 

I'm sure Andrew Nestor and a co are aware of it, but the selection and squad in this one highlighted the issue.