Maty Ryan believes being able to hold his own in terms of passing is a valuable asset to have as a keeper.

The Australian shot-stopper currently tops the charts in terms of the amount of short passes made in the Premier League this season with 267 at an accuracy of 97.8%.

His closest rival is Chelsea’s Kepa, who has made 218 short passes, which is 49 shy of the Albion keeper and Ryan talked about how helpful it is to be able to pass the ball.

He said: “I think it is an asset that you have as a goalkeeper, which is only going to help you, definitely with the direction the game is going.

“We work hard on that aspect and if you were to ask the coaching staff hopefully they would be full of praise for us goalkeepers in how we have immersed into it, adapted and worked hard at getting better at it.

“We try to do that every day, we set high standards for ourselves and we are enjoying the changes that are being made.”

With Potter having brought in the style of playing the ball out from the back, especially from goal kicks, Ryan plays outfield in training to work on his passing.

He said: “It is sort of a common thing with teams or managers that like to play this style of football that they get the goalkeeper involved in the passing drills, the rondos as we like to call it and the small boxes we play with when you have two players in the middle and play around them.

“On a constant weekly basis, two to three or some weeks every day, we are doing a passing drill or game.

“The way the game works is, in order to score a goal, you have got to play with one goalkeeper who is down at one end of the box and play through the players in middle to get to the other goalkeeper.

“It is a common theme and it has been helping myself and the other goalkeepers, in helping being composed on the ball and ultimately helping us on a game day to execute the passes that we want to execute.”

Potter’s style of play has been applauded by Albion fans, but also many pundits and Ryan says it very similar to one manager’s style in particular.

He said: “I think under the current format with Graham here it is very similar to that of Gareth Southgate with the England national team.

“That new more modern style of play, wanting to play out from the back, playing more short passes, trying to play between the lines and try to penetrate into the back third of who we are playing against.

“It has been something that we have all been relishing doing and not only ourselves, but the fans have taken a liking.

“Even at the start of the season when we were not getting the results everyone was upbeat, with performance and how we were playing.”

It is not just in the short passing department where Ryan is leading the way.

He has also topped the charts in terms of the amount of saves made this season with 44.

That includes several fine stops in the 3-1 defeat at Manchester United on Sunday.

The closest to him is Bournemouth’s Aaron Ramsdale with 42 and more than both the keepers from the bottom two clubs in Tim Krul (40) and Angus Gunn (30).

Ryan is now preparing for international duty with Australia as they take on Jordan tomorrow afternoon in a World Cup qualifier.

In their last qualifier against Chinese Taipei back in October, Ryan captained the Socceroos and he says it still hasn’t sunk in.

He said: “Yes it was I am still coming to terms with the enormity of it to be honest. 
“It will a little bit surreal, it is such a great privilege to even be representing my country,
“To lead them out of that occasion is something that is going to live long in the memory books for me.”
The big news with Australia and their national team recently is their decision to create a deal which means the women’s national team, also known as the Matildas, will be paid the same as their male counterparts.
Ryan, who was one of the four male Australian players who has support this campaign and he thinks it is only going to raise the standards of Australia as a footballing nation.
He said: “It is good for the game, there has to be equality across all aspects of life these days. 
“They should be getting the same treatment, same medical assistance that we get as a national team, the same amount of staff around them to help them be the best they can be. 
“It is only going to raise our standards as a nation. 
“I am in full support of it and hopefully they can take full advantage of this new deal that has been done.”