HAL HATH NO FURY
Scorned striker can prove a point
VHAL ROBSON-KANU has a chance to prove Ryan Giggs wrong today by out-gunning the striker who has ended his Euro 2020 dream.
West Brom’s Welsh forward Robson-Kanu, 30, is in the best form of his career at the Championship table-toppers ahead of Wigan’s visit today.
But it is understood Wales boss Giggs has dashed Robson-Kanu’s hopes of coming out of international retirement for the Euros by pledging to remain loyal to his stars who got them there.
Baggies manager Slaven Bilic was raving about the striker again after he struck his 10th goal of the season in Tuesday’s 2-0 home win over Preston.
His hot form prompted the forward to make himself available for Wales again but Giggs has spoken to Robson-Kanu and told him he already knows his team. It is further evidence Giggs intends to keep Wigan’s 6ft 5in striker Kieffer Moore, 27, up front to go more direct.
Moore’s introduction for a goalscoring competitive Wales debut in Slovakia in October helped Giggs’ side turn around their fading prospects. They subsequently went unbeaten and clinched qualification in a 2-0 win over Hungary, when Moore led the line with Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey and Dan James behind in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Robson-Kanu has 44 caps, with five goals, including two at
Euro 2016. He famously scored Wales’ second goal in their stunning 3-1 win over Belgium in the quarter-finals after a Johan Cruyff turn in the box.
Former non-League forward Moore has four goals in 2020 after returning from injury for the third-from-bottom Latics.
Albion drew 1-1 at Wigan in December and Baggies skipper Jake Livermore says they must be prepared to win ugly to clinch promotion. “It’s about winning games at this stage of the season,” he said. “And that’s what has been drummed into the boys. It doesn’t have to be pretty. It’s about doing the job right and doing it efficiently.
“We have slipped up against a few teams in the position that Wigan are in at the lower end of the table. We have found them very difficult games.”