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Cape Town - Countries should pay players' wages when they are on international duty, West Bromwich Albion manager Tony Pulis has said, while blaming Salomon Rondon's dip in form on the time the striker spent playing for Venezuela.
Rondon, West Brom's record signing, scored the winner in Saturday's 1-0 win over Norwich City, marking just the second time the Venezuela international has found the back of the net in 10 appearances for his club this season.
Pulis, who has previously questioned the need for international friendlies, blamed his misfiring striker's international commitments for his lack of killer instinct in front of goal.
"We think Salomon will score lots of goals but he goes away again next month for a third time and we will have the situation where the season is four months old and he will have been away for two months," Pulis was quoted as saying by the British media.
"He has to fly 22 hours each way to South America. He just has not had enough time to rest and pick up his performances and he has struggled a bit.
"It has got to the stage where it has to be looked at because they are away for so long.
"My argument is that if international teams want these players, particularly for friendlies, then they should pay their wages for those weeks they are away," the former Stoke City manager added.
Meanwhile, defender Johnny Evans has said he hopes the Baggies can build some momentum after chalking up back-to-back wins in the league for the first time this season.
"It has been great to get, especially the two clean sheets and the two 1-0 wins," Evans said.
"Sometimes the games aren't always pretty but we have managed to grind them out and we want to build our confidence on the back of that," the former Manchester United defender added.
