West Bromwich Albion had big expectations of John Swift upon his arrival this summer and the 27-year-old has so far lived up to his billing in pre-season, scoring two goals with two assists from six appearances. Swift scored 11 goals with 13 assists from 38 games at Reading last season and has hit the ground running early on at West Brom.

The 27-year-old came off the bench in Albion’s 2-1 win over Leyton Orient on July 4 and grabbed an assist after feeding Zac Ashworth the ball who fired a first-team effort into the top corner. Swift played a full 90 minutes in the Baggies’ 2-0 defeat to Stevenage on July 9 and fired blanks. He played for 25 minutes in their 3-0 win over Northampton Town on July 13 but didn’t have a hand in any of the goals.

Swift played 71 minutes in West Brom’s 1-1 draw with Crewe Alexandra on July 16 and converted a cross from out wide to score his first goal for the club. He played a full 90 minutes in Albion’s 3-0 win over Oxford United on July 19 and grabbed an assist, sliding a through ball to Karlan Grant who tucked away his chance from close range. Finally, the 27-year-old played for 78 minutes in the 2-1 win over Hertha Berlin on July 23 and scored his second goal for the club, converting another close from close range.

Swift is very comfortable keeping the ball in the middle of the park, but he makes runs into the box that aren’t picked up which is he bags a lot of goals from. The new Championship season starts this week and West Brom fans should be excited about what they’ve seen from their playmaker.

In other news, David Button must be first-choice for West Bromwich Albion after starting every friendly