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ESPNsoccernet: England | |
Markus Rosenberg is ready to intensify the competition for striking places at West Bromwich Albion after a disappointing start to his career at the Hawthorns.
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Rosenberg, 30, finally made his full home debut in the Capital One Cup defeat against Liverpool on Wednesday, following his arrival from Werder Bremen in the summer.
The Sweden international has been forced to wait in line behind Romelu Lukaku, Shane Long, Peter Odemwingie and Marc-Antoine Fortune since arriving on a free transfer.
But after missing the majority of pre-season and being starved of match action, Rosenburg is desperate for a part in the local derby against Aston Villa at Villa Park on Saturday.
"I enjoyed the Liverpool game and that's what I needed. I have trained a lot but I have not played as much so I really needed 90 minutes and I got it," he said.
"That was positive, but the result of the game was not so positive. It feels better and better but you can still see that the last pass is not there.
"There were too many times when I lost the ball, but it's getting better and better and I think in the second half I came into it better."
Odemwingie, 31, is suspended for the short trip to Villa and Rosenburg is hoping to at least clinch a place in manager Steve Clarke's squad after being given a swift history lesson in the rivalry between the two neighbours.
"The players have told me it's good. They say the biggest derby is Wolves but now it's only West Brom and Villa in the Premier League and it's going to be great," he said.
"We had derbies in Germany and there were three teams there, so there was a lot of competition between Hanover, Hamburg and Werder Bremen. Most of the time we won against Hamburg, which is the biggest derby there."