Shropshire Star

Kyle Bartley: Dad tells me to hit more West Brom goals

Kyle Bartley has been told he’s not scoring enough goals for Albion – by his dad.

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The commanding centre-back has netted once in six Premier League outings this season, with that goal coming in a 3-3 thriller with Chelsea.

In total, Bartley has netted five goals for the Baggies since joining the club from Swansea in 2018.

But both the defender – and his dad – feel he has the potential to be scoring that amount in a single season.

“My dad is constantly on my case that I don’t score enough goals,” Bartley revealed.

“He sends me videos saying ‘how have you missed this one, son?’

“He has kept me on my toes.

“It’s something I need to add to my game with the size and physique I have.

“With the quality we have in the delivery of set-pieces, I should be getting five, six, seven goals a season.

“It’s something that I enjoy. I need people pushing me, I use it as motivation to go out and do my best for the team.”

Having grown up in Bolton, Bartley was chased by a host of clubs in the north of England when he was a teenager.

But he revealed he left his home comforts to join Arsenal in 2007 after hearing a conversation between his parents that he wasn’t supposed to.

“My mum, my dad and my brother were massive for me,” Bartley continued.

“My mum and dad worked full-time, my dad on the buses, my mum in the NHS.

“When I was 15 I had numerous offers from the majority of northern teams.

“I was going to join Man City – I had made my mind up. I wanted to stay closer to home, I had my friends around me.

“But I actually heard my mum and dad having a conversation downstairs and my dad said he would be a bit disappointed in me if I chose the easy option.

“So I went back to my room that night, thought about it and went down stairs in the morning and told him that I had decided to join Arsenal.”