Darren Fletcher was back at Albion today to further his plans to achieve coaching badges for a future career beyond playing.

The popular former captain has accepted an invitation from Sporting and Technical Director Luke Dowling to continue his coaching pathway with Albion’s Academy youngsters.

“It’s a great opportunity,” says Darren. “I’m working towards my A licence and when the invitation came from Luke to do some work back at Albion it was a simple decision.

“I love coming back to the Club – it’s a special place for me and the moment you walk back through the doors it’s like being with your family again.

“Coaching is definitely something that interests me and this is a great opportunity to add to my experience.”

Darren was a key signing for the Club at the end of the January window in 2015 and captained the Baggies for two-and-a-half seasons while adding 91 Premier League appearances to his career total.

Luke said: “We’ve stayed in touch with Darren since the summer and it was not a difficult decision to open our doors to him as he considers a career in coaching.

“He will get involved in sessions and our young players should savour every minute they can spend being coached by someone of Darren’s experience and stature in the game.

“It’s a very informal agreement at the moment and we will just enjoy having Fletch back in the building and working with our young players.”