Daryl Dike and Brandon Thomas-Asante: West Bromwich Albion's friendly striker rivalry
- Published
Daryl Dike and Brandon Thomas-Asante have helped push West Brom towards the play-offs
West Bromwich Albion striker Daryl Dike is finally truly off and running after his injury-hit lost year with the Baggies.
The USA international has now scored five goals since returning from the treatment table in December, Albion have maintained their upward surge under boss Carlos Corberan - and a Championship play-off place still beckons.
Saturday's two-goal Dike-inspired win over in-form Middlesbrough appears to have corrected an untimely Albion wobble - and there is only one slight dampener for 22-year-old Dike. He still has to share his shirt with fellow Baggies striker Brandon Thomas-Asante.
When Thomas-Asante was bought from League Two side Salford City by Steve Bruce in August, it was to help plug the gap while Dike returned from the third of the injuries that had kept him sidelined since last January.
But 24-year-old Thomas-Asante did so well that he is Albion's top scorer with seven in all competitions, now on a total of 12 for the campaign including his early season exploits at Salford. And Corberan is doing his best to keep the pair fit and fresh by making them share the shirt.
"It's a great thing we have," Dike told BBC Radio WM. "We both want to start. We both want to play. But we're still very good friends.
Corberan clearly has so little room in his teams for more than one striker that Dike and Thomas-Asante have so far been limited to just 13 minutes playing time together. In the 14 league games they been in the squad together, aside from the two Thomas-Asante missed through suspension, one or the other has been substituted for the other 11 times out of 12.
"It's friendly competition but we push each other," said Dike. "We work together on our finishing after training. We're always doing our finishing practice together and doing things together.
"We push each other hard in matches to be better players. You can see how hard we both work for the team and just bounce off each other."
While Corberan's coaching skills on the training pitch have brought out the best in the Baggies, it is easy to forget the role played by his two predecessors Val Ismael and Bruce in their recruitment.
Dike was Ismael's last signing - and a big money one at that too - 14 months ago, only to then be lost to injury almost immediately.
And Bruce brought in not only Thomas-Asante, but also Jed Wallace and John Swift, the pair who twice linked up so skilfully to set up Dike's two beautifully crafted weekend goals.
Daryl Dike and Brandon Thomas-Asante have shared the same substitute's board in 11 of the 12 Albion league games for which they have been available
But the impact of chief playmakers Wallace and Swift, who both have seven assists this season, is not lost on the man who took both Saturday's two chances - and so nearly completed a hat-trick.
"It's a great feeling to score goals for any striker. Especially when you're contributing to a win," said Dike, ahead of Friday's trip to Hull, where victory could lift Albion back to within three points of the play-offs, with a game in hand.
"But, when you have a whole bunch of creative people around you to supply you and help you out it makes my job easier.
"Everyone pushes each other to succeed and get better. That's how the goals came.
"I'm confident enough in myself in knowing that the goals are going to come if I keep doing everything I need to do and keep helping my team out. The points, the goals, moving up the table, everything's going to happen."
Daryl Dike was talking to BBC Radio WM's Rob Gurney.