Express & Star

Derek McInnes believes Darren Moore can take West Brom back up

Former Baggies captain Derek McInnes is confident his old team-mate Darren Moore can take Albion straight back up to the Premier League.

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Derek McInnes

Moore takes Albion to Pittodrie tonight to face McInnes's Aberdeen side in their third pre-season friendly of the summer.

The pair played at The Hawthorns together near the start of the century, and McInnes was Moore's captain for a couple of seasons.

“Darren was a great competitor and a great teammate," said McInnes, ahead of tonight's friendly. "He’s someone you’d rather have with you than not.

"When you look at the results Darren managed to get from the team towards the end of the season, they played in a measured way and very organised and compact fashion.

"There was a lot of intelligence in the way they set up and they managed to get results.

"I’m pretty sure he won’t want to deviate too much from that because the reason he was successful in getting the job is because he got those results and the players responded.

"It’s a different challenge for him this year trying to get straight back into the Premier League, but I’m sure Darren has the experience.

"He knows the club inside out and there’s a level of player at West Brom and fantastic support that can help drive them all the way back. Hopefully that will be the case for them.”

Albion are expected to take a strong squad north of the border, with new faces Kyle Bartley and Jonathan Bond in line for their first minutes.

Summer signing Sam Johnstone has a slight strain and is a doubt.

Aberdeen are preparing for a Europa League second qualifying round double-header against Burnley next week.

But McInnes's main concern is to emerge from the friendly without any more knocks.

"We’d like to put in a strong performance because we probably need to get the result, but for us it’s about coming through the game without suffering any more injuries," said the Aberdeen boss.

"We had seven out up until this morning, but (Michael) Devlin and (Stephen) Gleeson have come back and done a bit of work and we’re hoping they might be able to play a part in tomorrow.

"We’re really up against it in terms of injuries so I don’t want to pick up any more injuries ahead of the Burnley game, which is the most important thing.

"You’ll see some of the youngsters playing as well so from that side of it the fitness levels I’m happy with.

"Match sharpness and familiarity is always key to pre-season games, but the most important thing is making sure we come through the game unscathed with injuries.”