West Brom midfielder Jordan Hugill failed to impress in his first start for the club against Preston last weekend, according to journalist Luke Hatfield.

How did Hugill perform on Saturday against Preston?

Having joined West Brom on a season-long loan from Norwich last month, Hugill has had to wait patiently for opportunities to make his mark at the Hawthorns.

However, after three promising cameo appearances off the bench, he was finally drafted into the starting line-up for the Baggies' trip to Deepdale on the weekend.

As per WhoScored, he failed to register a single key pass in the match, and completed just 58.8% of his attempted passes, as he picked up an underwhelming match rating of 6.69.

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What did Hatfield say about Hugill's first West Brom start?

Hatfield conceded that Hugill, who is valued at £1.8m by Transfermarkt, did not make the most of his opportunity to play from the beginning as he was unable to replicate the performances that he has produced as a substitute in recent weeks.

He told GIVEMESPORT: “There were a lot of people calling to see Hugill start, and ultimately it was a bit of a disappointing performance from Albion on a whole, but also that front three. Hugill, I think a lot of people expected him to affect the game like he had when he’d been brought on as a substitute, and he didn’t quite manage that.”

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Will Hugill get another start against QPR on Friday night?

West Brom kick-off this weekend's Championship action when they host QPR on Friday. Hugill may be sweating on his place in the team after his below-par showing at Preston.

The Midlands-based club have been short on goals in their most recent matches, finding the net just twice in their last three fixtures, and if Valerien Ismael is unconvinced that Hugill can produce the goods in the final third, he may decide to drop him back down to the bench.

However, as Hatfield alluded to, Hugill already seems to be popular amongst the West Brom faithful, and it would be unfair to judge him too harshly based on just one disappointing performance.

Ismael may have this on his mind when he comes to select his team for the QPR clash, and he could trust Hugill with a starting berth, hoping that the 6 foot forward feeds off the home crowd and delivers a much-improved display, with the team knowing that a win will take them top of the table, at least until Saturday.