Isaac Price Embraces Premier League Challenge with West Brom

Isaac Price is not hiding from it. West Bromwich Albion’s emerging midfielder wants the test, wants the noise, wants the stage.

On Wednesday night, that stage is St James’ Park.

Albion, flying high in second place in the Championship after two wins from two, head to Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup second round with momentum, confidence and a point to prove against Premier League opposition.

Price, fresh from a match-winning turn in the league, can barely wait.

Price relishing Premier League examination

The 20-year-old Northern Ireland international struck twice in Sunday’s 3-1 victory over Burnley, a performance that underlined his growing influence under head coach James Morrison. The buzz from that win has barely settled, but the focus inside the dressing room has already shifted north.

"All the lads are buzzing," Price told BBC WM Sport. "They are the games you want to be drawn in, in the cup - to go and play away at a Premier League team and at a place where we can go and show our quality. I can't wait."

Newcastle, who opened their league campaign with a 2-2 draw against Liverpool at St James’ Park, will be heavy favourites on home turf. Albion see it differently. For a squad rebuilding its identity after a brush with relegation last season, this is exactly the sort of night they crave.

Lessons from a near-miss

If Albion sound excited, they also sound scarred. Twelve months ago, they started well too. Then the floor gave way.

Price was quick to draw the parallel. Last season’s bright opening under Ryan Mason faded badly, results tailed off, and by the run-in the club were fighting to hold on to their Championship status.

"Every game in the Championship is tough and it doesn't matter who you play," Price said. "We had this last year - we started really well and it went downhill pretty fast, so it is about keeping our feet on the ground, keeping a level of consistency in performances to make sure that doesn't happen again."

The numbers from that collapse still sting inside the camp. Too many soft goals conceded. Not enough scored. Games that drifted away when they should have been killed.

"You are always learning as a player, even the lads who have played 2, 3, 400 games," he added. "It's about managing games and moments - we conceded a lot of goals that we shouldn't have last season and we didn't score enough at the other end.

"This year I want to be a key player where I show that that can't happen and I want to be a leader in this team to make sure it doesn't happen."

That is the edge Price carries into Tyneside: excitement, yes, but anchored by the memory of how quickly a season can unravel.

Morrison’s impact and a club back on its feet

The turning point in that survival fight came in February. Eric Ramsay was sacked, James Morrison stepped up as interim manager, and the mood around The Hawthorns shifted almost overnight.

The former Scotland international, who played 341 times for West Brom, stitched together a ten-match unbeaten run that dragged the club away from the trapdoor and ultimately earned him the job on a permanent basis.

For players like Price, having a figure so steeped in the club’s history leading the group has been crucial.

"It's helpful for all the lads," Price said. "He knows the club inside out. He's really humble - you wouldn't know day to day how many games he played and how many goals he scored for West Brom because he doesn't talk about it, but he is a legend and the lads love him.

"He's good around the changing room and he understands what we need. We look really good on the pitch at the moment, so it is about building the consistency which is what he wants."

That consistency has shown early. Albion have won both of their opening Championship fixtures and safely navigated a tricky first-round EFL Cup tie away to League Two Rotherham United to book this trip to Newcastle.

The platform is there. The warning signs from last year are, too.

So Albion arrive on Tyneside with a young midfielder in form, a manager the dressing room trusts, and a squad determined not to repeat old mistakes. Now comes the real question: can this version of West Brom carry their resurgence into one of the Premier League’s most unforgiving arenas and prove it really is different this time?