Isaac Price Eager for Challenge at St James’ Park

Isaac Price is not hiding it. He wants this.

A trip to St James’ Park. Under the lights. Premier League opposition. A chance to see exactly where West Bromwich Albion really are.

“I can’t wait,” the midfielder said, and you believe him.

Price walks into Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup second-round tie at Newcastle United on the back of the best afternoon of his Albion career so far – two goals in a 3-1 win over Burnley that kept James Morrison’s side perfect in the league. Albion sit second in the Championship, confidence high, momentum building. Now comes the examination.

“These are the games you want,” he told BBC WM Sport. “To go and play away at a Premier League team and at a place where we can go and show our quality.”

Newcastle, who opened their league campaign with a breathless 2-2 draw against Liverpool at St James’ Park, will expect to dictate the occasion. Albion, though, arrive with a sharp edge. Two league wins from two. Rotherham United seen off in the first round of the EFL Cup. A squad that looks energised under Morrison and, crucially, one that has already lived through how quickly early-season optimism can collapse.

Price hasn’t forgotten last year. He doesn’t want anyone else at the club to forget it either.

“We had this last year – we started really well and it went downhill pretty fast,” he said. No sugar-coating. No revisionism. Just the blunt reality of a campaign that ended with Albion clinging on to their Championship status after a grim slide under Ryan Mason.

That brush with relegation has left a mark.

“It is about keeping our feet on the ground, keeping a level of consistency in performances to make sure that doesn’t happen again,” Price said. “Every game in the Championship is tough and it doesn’t matter who you play.”

He talks like someone who has been stung and intends to respond. The Northern Ireland international is still young, but he’s already thinking in terms of responsibility, not just form.

“You are always learning as a player, even the lads who have played 2, 3, 400 games,” he said. “It’s about managing games and moments – we conceded a lot of goals that we shouldn’t have last season and we didn’t score enough at the other end.

“This year I want to be a key player where I show that that can’t happen and I want to be a leader in this team to make sure it doesn’t happen.”

That ambition fits neatly with the change in the dugout.

Morrison’s elevation from interim to permanent head coach has reshaped the mood around The Hawthorns. When he stepped in after Eric Ramsay’s sacking in February, Albion were staring at the trapdoor. Ten unbeaten matches later, survival was secured and the former Scotland international – 341 appearances in Albion colours – had done enough to keep the job.

Inside the dressing room, his influence is obvious.

“It’s helpful for all the lads,” Price said. “He knows the club inside out. He’s really humble – you wouldn’t know day to day how many games he played and how many goals he scored for West Brom because he doesn’t talk about it, but he is a legend and the lads love him.

“He’s good around the changing room and he understands what we need. We look really good on the pitch at the moment, so it is about building the consistency which is what he wants.”

That word again. Consistency. Albion’s players repeat it for a reason.

The football already looks sharper. There is a clearer identity, a sense of structure that wasn’t always there last season. But Morrison and his squad know that reputations are made and tested on nights like the one that awaits on Tyneside.

Newcastle will rotate, but they will still be Newcastle: intense, aggressive, backed by a crowd that roars every tackle as if it were a goal. For Price, it is exactly the stage he has been craving, a chance to carry his Burnley form into one of the most hostile arenas in the country and see if he can still dictate.

For Albion, it is more than a cup tie. It’s a barometer. Has the pain of last season really changed them? Or is this another bright start waiting to unravel?

The answers will start to emerge under the floodlights at St James’ Park, where a young midfielder who “can’t wait” now has to prove he’s ready.