I could not have wished for a better start says Ramsay

ERIC Ramsay believes hosting high-flying Middlesbrough under the lights tonight is the “perfect start” to his Albion reign in a lot of senses.

- By DAN NEWBOULD

Eric Ramsay says taking on second-placed Middlesbrough under the lights at The Hawthorns is an exciting start to his managerial reign at Albion

Ramsay only took over this week, replacing Ryan Mason as head coach, and is now preparing for his first game in charge this evening.

Speaking to the press for the first time, it was put to him that he could probably have asked for an easier first game than second-placed Middlesbrough and admitted: “In some senses, but I feel like it's in a lot of senses a perfect start.

“It's a real challenge. It's one that the players know full well that they will need to hit really high levels of performance if we're going to be competitive in that game and all the messages so far have been around that.

“In a lot of senses it would be something I would handpick, a big club at home under the lights on a Friday night with a real sense of optimism and the players have a real point to prove.”