West Bromwich Albion defender Gareth McAuley says Nicolas Anelka has been a class apart in training.

Anelka became Albion's first summer signing a fortnight ago.

"In fairness, he's a real athlete, " McAuley told the Birmingham Mail.

"He looks like he's cruising through. In training he's been sharp, his awareness is another level and he still has a turn of pace.

"He's been lively in training and he has that pace. He's only switched it on a couple of times when he needed to but, when he did, he was away.

"I've kept him on my team in training.

"I played against him when I was at Ipswich. We got slapped 7-0. He got one I think. It was just after Roy Keane got sacked and we had no manager.

''We went to Chelsea in the FA Cup and then beat Arsenal 1-0. We played 4-3-3 against them (Chelsea) and they slapped us."