DEPOITRE THINKS WORLD OF HIS BOSS

LAURENT DEPOITRE has not given up hope of making it into Belgium’s World Cup squad, thanks to the openness of Huddersfield manager David Wagner.

Depoitre has recovered from a slow start in the Premier League to become the Terriers’ top scorer with five.

The summer signing from Porto has one full cap for Belgium and although competition for strikers is tough, he has not ruled out making it to Russia after a series of pep talks from Wagner. “The Belgian squad has a lot of very good players, especially in my position. Christian Benteke, Romelu Lukaku, Divock Origi and Michy Batshuayi – they are all very good players,” said Depoitre (below).

“I hope I can do better. I want to improve in the next few months and show everyone even more than I am doing right now.

“In pre-season I had difficulties, but I spoke to the manager about it and he explained why I wasn’t in the team. “I’ve had managers who don’t speak to players, especially if you’re not playing. That means you don’t know why you’re not in the team. The manager here is open to having a discussion. Even after games he will tell you what was good and not so good.” Wagner has been bolstered by the signing of midfielder Alex Pritchard from Norwich for a fee of around £12million.