West Bromwich Albion manager Steve Clarke has told Goran Popov to prove that he is worthy of a place in the starting lineup.
The Macedonian has recently served a three-match suspension for spitting at Tottenham Hotspur full-back Kyle Walker during a match between the two sides last month.
Now that he is available for selection again, Clarke has insisted that he will consider playing the 28-year-old, but only if he shows the right attitude in training.
"What Goran did was totally out of character. It amazed us all," Clarke is quoted as saying by the Birmingham Mail. "He'd never shown anything like that in training. It was unfortunate but he handled it well, he held his hands up straight away, said he'd made a mistake and was very contrite.
"Now Goran has to step up and show he can challenge for the left-back position again. But there is an end product for Goran in all of this. He has to keep at it, keep impressing, work every day in training.
"Every day in training his attitude has been really good. He's made some impressive performances for us and the type of competition we've got for the left-back position is the kind of competition you want to replicate all over the pitch."
Popov joined West Brom on a season-long loan deal from Dynamo Kiev last summer.
Liam Apicella
