Slaven Bilic: West Brom will attack Premier League with confidence

It’s just over seven weeks since the Baggies secured promotion back into English football’s top tier following a 2-2 draw against QPR.

Now, though, Bilic’s men are preparing to welcome Leicester to The Hawthorns on Sunday for what is their first match back in the big time.

Having only just come up, a host of pundits are predicting the Baggies will struggle and come straight back down.

But Bilic says those words are just extra motivation for a group of players determined to prove they belong amongst the elite.

“We are very proud to be in the Premier League – we deserve to be there,” he said.

“Now we want to stay there, of course.

“The first task for any promoted team is, of course, to stay up and to secure that status for the following season.

“But we don’t want to compete as a Championship side who is going to try and do something in the Premier League.

“We are going to compete as a very confident side that expects to stay in the league for a long time.”

Bilic sees it as a positive that a lot of media outlets are writing off his team’s chances.

“That is positive – you can’t get more positive than that,” the boss said with a smile. “It’s great to be in that situation.

“Not so we can use it as an excuse or that it can only get better, no.

“In a sense that ‘let’s show them, let’s show them that they are all wrong.’

“That is why I, and the players also, treat that as a positive.

“We have even bigger motivation now to show those people they are wrong.”

Albion face a side in Leicester who boast last season’s Premier League golden boot winner in Jamie Vardy.

But Brendan Rodgers’s side are struggling with injuries and suspension’s heading into the game.

Ex-Albion defender Jonny Evans starts a three-match ban after he was sent off on the final day of last season and neither Wes Morgan nor Christian Fuchs are fit.

Full-back Ricardo Pereira is still on the road to recovery from a serious knee injury while James Maddison remains a doubt with a hip problem. The Foxes have also lost Ben Chilwell who joined Chelsea for £50million.

Nevertheless, Bilic knows his team are in for a tough game – with Leicester finishing fifth last season.

“They are a top team,” the Croatian said. “For most of last season they were in the top four.

“If it wasn’t for the coronavirus break and re-start – when they lost a bit of form and momentum – they would probably be in the Champions League this year.

“That is an unbelievable achievement and shows you what kind of team they are and what kind of club they have become.

“They have a great team, some great players. It’s a big test for us.”

Albion enter Sunday’s game with work still to do in the transfer market.

They have so far re-signed Matheus Pereira, Callum Robinson and Grady Diangana – three players who impressed on loan at The Hawthorns last season.

Bilic is also determined Filip Krovinovic will return.

But also wants a striker and another central midfielder, with talks ongoing for Huddersfield forward Karlan Grant and Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher.

“We had two phases of building the team for the new season,” the 52-year-old said.

“The first was to try and keep the players who were here last year – that we wanted to keep of course. Players like Grady, Callum, Filip.

“Phase two is to bring in the players you want to improve your team. It’s not easy. A lot of clubs are waiting.

“We have done the first phase well – we have got Grady and Callum. And we are doing everything to secure Filip.

“The second phase at the moment is more difficult.

“We don’t want quantity players we want players that will improve us straight away. We are trying, we are close to doing a couple more deals.”