Isaac Price believes his March international duty with Northern Ireland can only help him “make a difference” at club level when he returns for Albion’s remaining Sky Bet Championship games.
The versatile midfielder, who scored while playing at right-back during the Baggies’ 1-1 draw against Hull City last weekend, is away with his nation over the next two weeks.
Friendlies against Switzerland at Windsor Park on Friday, March 21 and Sweden in Stockholm on Tuesday, March 25 await Price and his compatriots, and the 21-year-old was full of praise for the way those tests help his overall progression as a player.
On going away with the Green and White Army, Isaac said: “I love playing international football and we’ve got two tough games against top nations coming up.
“It’s another chance to go and get better and prove as a nation how good we are.
“We have some really good up-and-coming players and we go into those two games looking to beat both sides.
“Switzerland and Sweden are good teams with some big names in them, but we won’t fear them.
“When you go away on international duty, you play against the best players around the world and with the best from your nation.
“You can always take notes - even when you’re not playing - about what they do well, not so well, and every young player should do that because you’re not going to be the best player on the pitch every single week.
“It’s all about learning. I’ll probably play in a different position for Northern Ireland than where I play at Albion.
“We’ve got a lot of right-backs at Northern Ireland, so I don’t think I’ll be playing there, but you learn by playing against good opposition.”
Down the right flank was where Isaac played during Albion’s final match before the break - when they shared the spoils with the Tigers.
It was a game where the energetic midfielder netted his first goal in navy-blue-and-white, volleying in the opener to break the deadlock.
Get a closer look at Isaac Price's first Albion goal. 😍 pic.twitter.com/kUNy3Z9d72
— West Bromwich Albion (@WBA) March 16, 2025
“I was really happy with the goal,” Price continued.
“Some of Heggy’s crosses were excellent and I feel like I could have had a few during the game, but it’s about getting more of them now to help the team going forwards.
“We all came in from the last game frustrated. It was game we should’ve won, but things got a bit hectic towards the end and it wasn’t good enough defensively from me for their goal.
“I should’ve defended better for it, but that’s part of football and something to put right in the next game we play when we come back.
“I’ve played a few different positions and I’m just happy to be playing and to help the team in any way that I can.”
Price was quick to move on and focus on the appetite he has for the upcoming clashes with fellow promotion-chasers following the conclusion of his spell with Northern Ireland.
Sunderland, Bristol City and Coventry City make up three of the Baggies’ next five matches - all sides either in or around the play-off positions.
And Isaac says the extra "pressure” on those fixtures only increases his motivation to help Albion claim points from their promotion rivals, adding his gratitude to the club’s supporters for their faith in him since he arrived, and their importance during the season run-in.
He concluded: “I’ve really appreciated the support from the fans. For a player, it’s the best thing when you know the fans are on your side and want you to do well.
“I’m really grateful to them and I’m loving playing here.
“More importantly, I want to win more games for them to get us into that top six so we can push for promotion.
“We had three games in a week last time out; one of which was played with 10 men, where we did well to get the three points, then we travelled to Burnley - and it’s never easy to play there - and got a point, then we played Hull looking to get three points but it didn’t quite happen.
“So yes, maybe a little break is good for the team to regroup and give it a final big push for the last games.
“As a player, you look forward to the games that mean a lot and the ones that have a little bit more pressure on them.
“All footballers strive for those occasions and you want to help the team in those sort of games so you can say that you made a difference in them.”
