Lewis Cox brings you his take as Albion were held to a 1-1 draw against Dynamo Kyiv. On the final day of their pre-season trip to Austria - Albion went in front through Nat Phillips before being pegged back in the second half. Lewis gives his take on the display, who impressed and the youngsters on show.
00:00West Bromwich Albion 1, Dinamo Kiev of Ukraine 1 here at Bad Tatsmansdorf Fuzzball Arena within the base camp of the Baggies week-long camp here in Bergenland.
00:15It's finished a draw, as I say, a very worthwhile exercise, I think, a very creditable draw, I would say, for Albion.
00:22Just worth reminding, they played against Dinamo Kiev here, Ukrainian champions, unbeaten last season.
00:28They'll be playing Champions League football, a mixed side for them, so they had some of their big hitters out.
00:34As did Albion, obviously, Ryan Mason, head coach, started with a strong side, almost as strong as he could go, one or two missing, but a strong outfit.
00:43The Baggies held their own. It was a very even game, I would say, a draw was the right result, 0-0 at half-time.
00:51Albion took the lead 10 minutes into the second period through new signing and the first summer signing, Nat Phillips, the former Liverpool defender.
00:58Rose to power home, sorry, a bullet header across from Mikey Johnson from the right.
01:04Johnson didn't start. Obviously, this is in the wake of his failed move to Brazil that was on the cards last week.
01:11He joined up late and arrived at half-time, did Johnson for Tom Fellows, who'd had a very good first half.
01:16His delivery from the right, as I say, was superb, and Nat Phillips powered a bullet head at home.
01:21Rafter changes afterwards from Mason around the hour, and it was a mostly young side for the final, 20, 30 minutes.
01:27And do you know what? They held their own, really.
01:29Kiev had one clear chance, good Joe Wildsmith save, and then got through, bit of a sloppy one, slipped through a defender.
01:35I think it was young Mo Diamande. But really, it was the only couple of occasions that an experienced Kiev outfit cut through even a young baggy side, really.
01:45And they finished well on that occasion, 14 minutes from time to equalise.
01:48But the Albion youngsters, they went again. They were on the front foot.
01:51I think the young players deserve some credit, really, for the impact they had here.
01:54And obviously, they've been a big part of the training week.
01:57It's been a pleasure to be here. We've brought loads of coverage, loads of interviews.
02:01Hope we've been able to enjoy them. We spoke with Ryan Mason there, the head coach afterwards, as well as left-back Callum Stiles.
02:08It was actually, other than his unveiling at the Hawthorns, the first kind of more intimate interview we've had with Mason.
02:13And he was really pleased with what he saw. I'll bring a couple of pieces as we speak, really.
02:18I'm writing those up just about what he thought about the general performance, how he saw bits of training, bits of style that they've been implementing within the game today.
02:26So I think that bodes well. You could see it in attack, obviously.
02:29We had the pleasure of watching training the other day, and you could see bits within drills and moves and stuff.
02:34And also some talk on why one or two of those missed out today that we sort of expected to be involved.
02:41We knew, you know, Carl Bartlett missed out, Josh Madger missed out. They sort of speak for themselves.
02:45But new boy, Arna Hegeber, didn't play. Neither did Josh Griffiths, the goalkeeper, and Jed Wallace wasn't involved either.
02:51So we'll bring some clarity on that. Nothing serious with any of them. You'll be glad to hear.
02:55So, yeah, stay tuned. I'm here for one more night. Both myself and the players go home tomorrow, back to the Black Country.
03:01Not on the same flight, I may add. But no, it's really been a pleasure. Thanks to the club for that.
03:06And yeah, I hope you've enjoyed the stuff we've been able to bring.
03:08And yeah, it's great to watch that today and a step forward, it feels to me.
