Ismael confident Grant can score ‘plenty of goals’ for Baggies
West Brom manager Valerien Ismael believes forward Karlan Grant can stay on the goal trail this term.
The London-born striker opened his account for the season in West Brom’s 3-2 victory over Luton Town at the weekend.
He is expected to lead the line again on Wednesday evening as the Baggies take on Slavisa Jokanovic’s Sheffield United.
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“I was delighted to see him score on Saturday. He had a fantastic pre-season and he worked really hard,” Ismael told the club’s official website.
“He’s a confident player anyway, but we tried to give him even more of the confidence he needs because he’s a really important part of the way we want to play.
“It was important for him to score at The Hawthorns, to have that breakthrough in terms of confidence.
“Now it’s about momentum and for him to keep going and keep scoring goals. He needs to show the hunger again on Wednesday which we saw against Luton.
“He can score plenty of goals. He’s on the right track.”
Grant’s best form came at Huddersfield Town, where he managed 23 goals in 57 games.
He was then snapped up by West Brom for £15million, which made him the second-most expensive player in their history after Salomon Rondon.
Grant featured 21 times last season as the Baggies were relegated from the Premier League on 26 points.
He opened his account in a 1-1 draw against Brighton early in the campaign but failed to score from then on.
Sam Allardyce left him on the bench for four games in a row between February 14 and March 4.
Sheff Utd were also relegated to the Championship last term after a disappointing season under Chris Wilder.
Speaking ahead of the clash at The Hawthorns, Jokanovic said: “It’s a tough game against one of the strongest teams in the league. They really started the season well.”
When asked if he felt pressure about being a promotion favourite, the Serbian added: “I don’t feel pressure, I feel responsibility for my club, for those 29,000 [fans] on the first game.
“I was disappointed not to bring them three points. I am not caring about pressure, but I must show the respect and responsibility of the place where I am in.”
