IT’S TOUGH KEEPING HIM QUIET
Baggies star Bartley full of praise for goal hero Gayle
KYLE BARTLEY knows how difficult it is to stop goal-machine Dwight Gayle.
The last-time-but-one central-defender Bartley (right) played against Gayle, he put two goals past him.
The last time Bartley played against him, he gave Gayle a kick.
It’s the only way to stop him, says 27-year-old Bartley.
They are team-mates at West Brom now, but Bartley is thinking back to when he was at Leeds and Gayle was lashing in 23 goals to get Newcastle out of the Championship.
Gayle, 27, is red-hot again in his season’s loan with three goals in his first four Baggies league games. He’s also got three penalties.
Stoke couldn’t deal with Gayle as he scored two excellent goals. Pre-season favourites to go straight back up, City were long beaten before Erik Pieters’ added- time goal. “Gayle scored two against me two years ago when Newcastle won 2-0 at Leeds,” says Bartley.
“The next time I played against him (1-1 at St James’ Park), I kicked him after 10 minutes.
“He didn’t score in that one, but he’s had a little word with me about that. He said his back is still hurting.
“Gayle is brilliant, he is going to get lots of goals this season. We’ve just got to make sure he stays fit.
“His movement is fantastic and you know at all times he wants to score goals. Any little lapse and he is going to be in.
“He is looking very dangerous and we are going to be a threat all season.”
Albion have lost one of their last five league games since the opening-day home shock to Bolton.
“It’s similar to being at Newcastle because we are expected to do well,” says Gayle of Albion’s promotion prospects.
The expectation is difficult to deal with but, if you don’t deal with it, you find yourself struggling.
“We have to put teams to bed and take our chances.” It’s another setback for the Potters, who have only won once back in the Championship. Boss Gary Rowett said: “We’ve got to stop making mistakes in defence and giving silly goals away. “If it was a one-off I could accept it. But out of six games, we have made silly mistakes five times. “We can’t keep allowing players to run through and score goals.”