Exclusive: Mason Holgate Targets Promotion with West Brom Amid Expiring Everton Deal

Everton ace Mason Holgate is dreaming of a fairytale finish to the season after two years of torment.

The experienced defender has ten years of Premier League experience under his belt, but his deal with the Toffees expires in the summer.

The ambitious 28-year-old has revealed a perfect scenario this term - after injury struggles and an unwanted relegation on his CV - is to help guide West Brom back to the top-flight.

The Baggies are flying high in sixth position in the Championship – and Holgate has been relishing a second loan spell with the Midlands outfit.

West Brom's promotion hopes have also received a boost with the return of former boss Tony Mowbray, who recently replaced Carlos Corberán following his move to Spanish La Liga side Valencia.

“It’s been a difficult couple of seasons and my contract at Everton ends at the end of this season,” reflected Holgate, speaking exclusively to SportsBoom.

“I’m on loan at West Brom until the end of the season, so I just want to play as much football as possible and put myself in the shop window."

“The last couple of years have been a bit tough for me personally. I’ve been injured a lot, I did [tore] my ACL [Anterior Cruciate Ligament] two years ago and didn’t play when I came back, so I went on loan last year."

“Unfortunately my Southampton loan didn’t go as I wanted and then I went to Sheffield United in the January, and that was difficult because of the situation the club was in and the lack of confidence in the team."

“We were not winning many games and we were conceding a lot of goals and, as a defender conceding so many goals, well someone is always going to point the finger at you.”

'PROMISED LAND'

The Baggies agonisingly missed out on promotion back to the ‘promised land’ last season with a heart-wrenching semi-final play-off defeat to Southampton, beaten 3-1 on aggregate across two legs.

In the 2018-19 season, in his first loan at the club, former England Under-21 international Holgate missed a spot kick in a 4-3 penalty shootout defeat to Aston Villa as the club came within a whisker of a famous Premier League return.

If the club do get promoted this season it would be the first time back in the top flight since the 2020-21 season when they came up, only to get relegated the following campaign.

“Hopefully I get an opportunity to stay here and go up [get promoted to the Premier League],” stressed Holgate.

“That’s the ideal plan, but if not, then I just want to enjoy playing regular football, it’s especially tough when you’re not playing."

“That’s what it’s all about. I’ve not played a lot for a couple of seasons, so to be back out there playing regularly is obviously something I’m really enjoying. I want to keep doing that."

“I’d bite your hands off now if I scored the winning goal and we won promotion."

“Not even the scoring bit, I’d take going up above everything else."

“I think it’s something we’re capable of as a squad, the quality is there, but it’s about getting those wins on the board and hopefully we can benefit from that.”