Five things learned from pre-season draw with Port Vale

1) Nacer Chadli can flourish at number 10

Albion looked most dangerous when the Belgian dropped into the pocket and picked up possession. His close control is unrivalled in the squad bar, perhaps, James Morrison, making him the perfect fit just behind the striker. His weight of pass is also almost always spot on, and with the likes of Matt Phillips and Jay Rodriguez bending their runs off the wing, he could be devastating.

Most importantly, Chadli looked far happier in the middle, where he saw more of the ball and wasn’t required to do as much tracking back with Claudio Yacob and Sam Field protecting him. Those demands were part of the heated discussions he had with Tony Pulis before he skipped out on Austria. Chadli may have played on the left for most of his career, but he’s probably never been asked to do as much defending as last season. But moving him into a central position could be the solution to a number of problems. It may well be time to build the team around him.

2) Jay Rodriguez is best out left

He’s a versatile player who fared well as a target man for Southampton last season, and Pulis has tried him in a number of roles this summer, including out right, behind the striker, and up front. But he looks most comfortable drifting in off the left hand side, which is a role he’s done for most of his career at Burnley and Southampton.

A poacher who always follows in at the back post, he’s confident enough to run at players, and strong enough to challenge in the air. His versatility will be useful next season, but it looks like we will see his best football out left in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

3) Kane Wilson continues to impress

Thanks to several niggling injuries, Pulis was forced to start three teenagers at Vale Park. The metronomic Sam Field has long been at the forefront of Pulis’s thoughts, but he needs a season out on loan at a Championship club to hone his skills. Jonathan Leko has dazzled at times this summer too, but it is Wilson’s performances which have impressed most.

The 17-year-old right-back is powerful and quick, and he dealt superbly with Vale’s obvious attempts to target his flank, muscling players much older than him off the ball. With the squad so thin, Pulis won’t be able to loan out all his youngsters, but if any are worth holding back to sit on the bench it is Wilson. He is younger than both Leko and Field, whose needs for regular first team football are greater, and can do a job at left-back or right-back, allowing Craig Dawson or Allan Nyom to slip in centrally in times of trouble.

4) Albion still need to replace Darren Fletcher

The captaincy is in safe hands with Jonny Evans, and there are plenty of experienced heads in the dressing room who will help guide the Baggies through next season. But on the pitch, Fletcher’s relentless running in midfield is sorely missed.

During his two and a half years at The Hawthorns there were times when he dragged the whole team up the pitch, and when Jake Livermore is not in the team, like last night, Albion lack forward momentum in central midfield. Claudio Yacob is a fantastic destroyer but he does not drive play forward. The Baggies need a dynamic box-to-box man.

5) Robson-Kanu has more poacher's instinct than Rondon

Pre-season seems to count for even less than it used to, with teams treating games more and more like training sessions. But Hal Robson-Kanu has two goals this summer, and Rondon has none. The Wales international capitalised on a dreadful back-pass at Vale before skipping past a lazy challenge from the keeper. That may have been a straightforward goal but his dinked finish at Walsall was not.

Moreover, since Christmas, Robson-Kanu has five goals in Albion stripes compared to Rondon's one, and the Venezuelan has played far more minutes. Neither are absolutely stunning returns, but Hal may just be giving Pulis some food for thought ahead of the season-opener a week on Saturday.