Sam Johnstone insists that West Bromwich Albion “can’t wait to get going” as the Baggies prepare for the Sky Bet Championship campaign to get back underway in a fortnight.

It has now been over three months since a ball was kicked in the EFL, but the campaign is set to resume on the weekend of June the 20th, when Albion are set to take on local rivals Birmingham City.

Slaven Bilic will be urging his side to hit the ground running upon the season’s restart, with the Baggies sitting second in the Championship table and six points clear of third-placed Fulham.

Can you get 15 out of 15 on this West Brom higher or lower quiz?

Automatic promotion looks to be well on the cards for West Brom, but with clashes against the likes of Brentford and Fulham still to come, they cannot afford to get off to a slow start.

Goalkeeper Sam Johnstone has insisted that he and his teammates “can’t wait to get going” ahead of the long-awaited return of EFL action.

He told the official club website: “It’s been really good to get back to training and obviously see everyone again.

“It’s certainly been different. All the lads were happy to get back into training because we are so used to routine and we all love playing. We missed it.

“Normally, when we have time off it’s all structured, there’s a date when you know you’ll go back. This has obviously been different because we didn’t know when that would be.

“But all the boys have kept themselves in great shape. We’ve all been working really hard at home and now we’ve continued that in training.

“The start date is obviously a big boost and it gives us something to aim for and work towards. That’s what we want as players.

“We’ve had to adapt to the new training rules and rules around the training ground but everyone has been great.

“We can’t wait to get going again in terms of games.”

Johnstone has been a key player for the Baggies this season, featuring in every single Championship fixture and producing a series of solid performances to keep Albion fighting for a place in the top-two.

The Verdict

West Brom still have some tough fixtures coming up and the job isn’t done just yet.

It only takes a slow start and a couple of defeats here and there and Fulham could be right in the mix, so they need to train well in these next couple of weeks.

With Grady Diangana returning from injury, though, this should give them a massive boost in the race for promotion.