Florin Andone happy to be fit - and far from the drop zone

He had too much of that at his previous club Deportivo La Coruna.

Especially last season, when they fought a losing battle against the drop in LaLiga Santander.

They chopped and changed line-ups in a bid for a winning formula which never came.

Depor ended up going down with games to spare and offloading prize assets – including cut-price Andone to Albion.

So no wonder the Seagulls’ new goalscoring sensation is thrilled to be fit, happy – and as far away from the drop zone as possible.

Andone is eyeing a second start of the season and third appearance in eight days at Turf Moor tomorrow.

He is flying after goals at Huddersfield and at home to Crystal Palace.

Especially as the latter helped him enjoy a first win in a local derby.

For now, he reckons that, as an unknown quantity, he is taking Premier League defenders by surprise.

But the bigger picture is learning and progressing to sustain that level when the novelty value wears off.

Andone only played in one league win between September 30, 2017, and last Saturday.

Now he has two in four days.

He told The Argus: “Last season was very hard.

“My first season at Depor I think was a good season personally.

“I scored a lot of goals, I played a lot and the second season, I didn’t expect not to play.

“I expected to play, to play and I was half and half – on the bench or on the pitch.

“It was very hard for me, very hard for the team because all year we were down in the table.

“When you are every week down there it is very hard for the mentality and for the people.

“But now it is a new beginning – new people, new country, new cities and I’m happy.

“I’m happy because I’m fit and that is the most important.

“I’m happy because I played the last two games, I have more minutes and I’m very excited to play more and improve.

“We are tenth now and this is important, to be far from the last three positions.”

After failing to net until November 5, Andone scored 12 goals for Depor in 2016-17 as they made sure of staying up on the last day.

His 2,961 league minutes that season slipped to 1,628 last term as Lucas Perez and Adrian Lopez offered strong competition for striking places.

Andone’s season seemed to have turned in January when he headed home an equaliser away to Villarreal – at the time Albion’s interest was alive.

He then pledged his commitment to Depor at a press conference before the following game, at home to Valencia, and that appeared to be that.

But, despite another Andone goal, Martin Montoya and company went home with a 2-1 win and Depor’s revival was nipped in the bud.

Before the season was over, they needed to offload top players.

Perez ended up at West Ham and it has not escaped people in Depor’s home city of A Corunha on the Galicia coast that both he and Andone scored in the Premier League on Tuesday night.

The Argus revealed in May that Andone was available on a cut-price deal – but he arrived struggling with an injury.

He said: “It was hard because I didn’t play the first four months maybe here.

“I’m very happy to play these two games, these minutes.

“I’m very happy to feel the excitement on the pitch.

“I feel the ground, the ball and this for me is unbelievable.

“I had problems in the last two months in Deportivo. I came here with problems and now I feel very good.

“I need to improve, to improve, to work, to work, to work. I think I can give more and more.

“I don’t know exactly what I have improved but it’s new to me.

“You need to keep your level high here every day. You need to train very hard because we have very good players.

“I try to do all my best every day to win the gaffer’s confidence.”

Andone is insistent that the team is the thing, that results matter – not his goals. But there comes a point when, he accepts, a player in his role is expected to put the ball in the net.

He said: “When you are a striker, the goals are very important for you.

“I have two in two games and it is more confidence for me.

“And it’s more minutes for me because I didn’t play.

“I had maybe 150 minutes, I don’t know exactly, and that is a short time.

“Game by game by game, I will improve and do more for the team.”

Like using pace and desire to catch defenders like James Tomkins unawares, perhaps.

He said: “The defender maybe didn’t know me. I’m new in this team, I did not play so much.

“That’s one good thing I have – my speed. I want to go, to go.

“It was lucky, you know? The last touch, I didn’t have space but the defender helped me a little bit and I could score the goal.

“The most important, I repeat, is the result. It was the derby and it was a perfect night.

“Against Celta (Deportivo’s arch rivals), I did not have good results.

“I think this is my first derby when I won. I went home very happy.”