Koren hails team ethic at Baggies

Jan 25 2008 By James Peacock

The last time Robert Koren prepared to face Peterborough United he had just emerged from one of the toughest periods of his career.

The Slovenian suffered an horrific eye injury at the start of this campaign but came off the bench at London Road during West Bromwich Albion's 2-0 Carling Cup victory in August.

If selected tomorrow, Koren will face the same opponents at the same venue in the FA Cup, but this time as part of an Albion side about to enter its own critical period of the season.

"Thanks for reminding me about my injury - I was trying to forget about that," said the midfielder. "It was a strange injury and a very difficult time for me. But my eye is okay now. I still have to have checks every year because there's still some damage that could be done but I am trying to put that behind me now."

Even so, returning to London Road six months after the injury threatened Koren's career will be a reminder of how much his season, and fortune, has changed.

Goals from Zoltan Gera and Nathan Ellington, neither of whom will be playing tomorrow - the former is suspended, the latter has sought pastures new - were enough to see Albion to victory on that last visit.

But Koren was quick to point out that it has been Albion's squad, not individual players, that have put the side in the promotion hunt.

He said: "This year we are playing more like a team. It is important to have good individuals in form on the day of the match, and players who do something extra, but this year we have a big squad and a lot of good players.

"Last year we were focused more on the individual even though we were still playing good football. The team is preparing the same way as we did last year but this season we have been working on how to break sides down as a team."

One only has to look at the goalscoring form of Roman Bednar in the absence of Ishmael Miller and the competition for places throughout the squad to see what he means.

Koren, who has played 22 of the 24 league games since his injury, is an advocate of rotating players. He said: "When some players have gone out of the team it has not made a lot of difference.

"But the manager had brought in a lot of new faces so it is up to him who rests. In truth, it is not possible to play every game 100 per cent, especially for me, coming from another country. It is really hard.

"Here, for example, it is maybe be a little easier for someone like Jonathan Greening than it is for me. He has been playing at this level for nine or ten years so his body is used to it and and can cope a little bit better.

"You need to be honest with yourself. If you are, there is no problem. But we need some of the players to be there all the time and we need that platform so that we can win games."

The name of Kevin Phillips, the Championship's top scorer, was clearly not far from Koren's thoughts. But the 35-year-old's importance to Albion extends beyond his impressive goal return.

Koren said: "Kevin is just a brilliant player and he is doing a brilliant job for the team. "Sometimes it is hard to understand that he is so old. He seems younger in training.

"He is always trying to help every player. We need him in the team and hopefully he will stay injury free. If he does I think he can play for two more seasons."