West Bromwich Albion midfielder John Swift joined his current club in the summer because he feels the Baggies have what it takes to get themselves back to the Premier League, speaking to the PA News Agency.

The former Chelsea man spent six years at the Select Car Leasing Stadium but only came close to winning promotion to the top flight once - and that came during his first season when the Royals made the play-off final but lost on penalties against Huddersfield Town.

Since then, the Berkshire outfit have spent a lot of time at the bottom end of the division and have even been in danger of getting relegated a few times, with Swift's 11 goals and 13 assists last season playing a huge part in saving them from the drop.

His contract came to an end last summer and with this, he decided to make the switch to The Hawthorns, with the likes of Jed Wallace and Okay Yokuslu also joining on free transfers.

With these additions in mind, the Baggies were one of the favourites to be in the promotion mix this term despite missing out on the top six last season, but started the campaign poorly under Steve Bruce.

Carlos Corberan has come in since then and given them a slim chance of securing a place in the play-offs - and Swift's ambition of getting back to the top flight influenced his decision to join the Midlands side.

He said (via the Irish News): "For me and some of the other lads that haven't played there (in the Premier League), we would love to play there.

"That's the main reason why I wanted to come to West Brom because I felt the squad and everything that comes with the club has a good chance of getting there.

"We didn't start great, which obviously hasn't helped us now, but hopefully we can turn that around and get into the play-offs and give ourselves a massive chance to get ourselves to where everyone in English football wants to get to."

The Verdict:

Leaving the Royals was probably a good idea. With their transfer restrictions in mind and the fact they are still abiding by a business plan, it will probably take them at least a few years to be challenging at the top end of the division again.

And they may even get relegated this season if they receive a points deduction, so the 27-year-old won't be a regretting his decision to leave his former club, even if he isn't guaranteed to get into the top six this season.

It's just a shame for him that he didn't get a top-tier move because he arguably did enough last season to prove that he should be playing at that level.

His consistency can let him down though and that might be why he didn't take a step up, although you would certainly back them to be challenging for a place in the top tier next season if they don't win promotion this term.

Corberan has done a good job so far and from Albion's point of view, you hope his links to other clubs hasn't proven to be a turning point because they haven't been in the best form recently.