West Brom midfielder sets out challenge to chip in more after special brace

Mowatt, 29, matched his haul from last season in the second half at Fratton Park with two sweet strikes from range in the visitors’ 3-0 win to go top.

His first goal last Sunday, Albion’s second, was a first goal from open play for almost a year for Mowatt and the former Barnsley man is keen to find the net more regularly – despite operating a deeper role this term.

“Yes, definitely, I didn’t score enough last season, not at all,” Mowatt said. “I’ve scored a lot more in seasons before in my career and I want to be doing that regularly.

“I’ve been deeper this season and ended up scoring more than when I was a bit higher up! So hopefully the goals can keep going.”

Boss Carlos Corberan said he was not remotely surprised by the quality of Mowatt’s double on the south coast, such is the ability the midfielder possesses.

Mowatt has been an important regular under Corberan after a loan at Middlesbrough sanctioned by former boss Steve Bruce left him in limbo.

His best goalscoring campaign came at first club Leeds where a teen Mowatt scored nine goals in the Championship in 2014/15.

He netted eight goals in a season twice for Barnsley, once in League One and once in the second tier, prior to switching to The Hawthorns, where he once again joined forces with Valerien Ismael.

Mowatt has been part of a somewhat new-look three-man Corberan midfield alongside Jayson Molumby and John Swift.

The head coach has so far named an unchanged XI for all five of Albion’s Championship fixtures. There was change in Albion’s midfield this summer as Okay Yokuslu was sold and Molumby has recovered from injury to settle back in seamlessly.

Swift, previously an attacking midfielder, has been given licence to drop deeper to join in midfield this term.

Corberan’s unchanged line-up has so far offered few opportunities to summer recruits Uros Racic, Ousmane Diakite and Callum Styles.

Serbia international midfielder Racic, a loan signing from Sassuolo in Italy, has drummed up excitement behind the scenes and two substitute appearances in the last two games have built similar optimism in the stands.

Mowatt added of Racic’s progress: “He’s been really good in training and is getting better with his English as well. It’s never easy coming to a different country and you can’t speak the language very well, so he and Luca (Gianluca Frabotta) have been better with that in training.

“I thought he (Racic) did really well when he came on. It wasn’t an easy game to come into, the atmosphere was like that, you’re winning so people might not want to play like that and be a bit more safe, but I thought he was excellent.”

It was Albion’s busiest transfer window for more than a decade as 11 new faces checked in this summer amid a vast turnover.

“I know four of the lads who joined this summer quite well, I know Stylesy from Barnsley, Mason (Holgate) from Doncaster (Mowatt’s birth-town), Paddy (McNair) and then Mikey (Johnston) from last year,” Mowatt said of the change.

“It was a weird summer to be honest because in training at the start we hardly had any players in training so the young lads were training with us and did really well.

“Now we’ve got a massive squad and we’re leaving players out at the moment. I think a big squad will definitely help us.”

Corberan is mulling whether to continue with an unchanged side as Wayne Rooney brings Argyle to the Black Country this weekend.

“The lads who are starting need to keep playing well to keep the others out who are training well,” added Mowatt.

“We’ve got to keep going, everyone who is playing wants to keep the shirt and everyone who isn’t wants to be in the starting 11 as well.”