View: West Brom summer signing can feel hard done by over Bilic decision this week
West Brom put in what was arguably their best performance of the season on Wednesday night when they beat Bristol City 4-1 at The Hawthorns.
Slaven Bilic named a strong team ahead of the match as, for perhaps the first time during his reign in charge of the Baggies, he had a fully fit and fully available squad to choose from.
Ahmed Hegazi, Gareth Barry and Kieran Gibbs were all back to fitness and Jake Livermore, Romaine Sawyers and Nathan Ferguson were available once again after serving suspensions.
Most of West Brom’s starting line-up selects itself after a strong start to the campaign that sees them sit top of the Championship table but one area there were going to be doubts about was at full-back.
Ferguson has impressed both on the right and left-hand sides of the back-four while Gibbs, a left-back with a wealth of Premier League and international experience, was always bound to return to the side at some point.
Bilic eventually opted for those two for the match against Bristol City with Ferguson starting at right-back and Gibbs starting on the opposite side of the back-four.
It did, however, mean that Darnell Furlong was dropped to the bench.
Furlong, 24, has been brilliant for West Brom since arriving in a deal worth £1.5million from QPR in the summer transfer window.
Before being dropped to the bench for the win against Bristol City, Furlong had started 12 Championship fixtures in a row for the Baggies and barely put a foot wrong in that time.
According to stats by WhoScored, he ranks joint-third in the Championship for average key passes made per match [1.1] by a right-back with more than 10 appearances and joint-fourth for successful dribbles [1.1].
Defensively, Furlong has also stood out. He’s averaged 0.8 crosses blocked per Championship outing, putting him joint-second in the league, and has only been dribbled past 0.5 times per game, ranking him joint-fourth.
Furlong deserves to start for West Brom but with Ferguson playing so well in his breakthrough season and Gibbs being Gibbs, how does the former QPR ace get into this side?
It may well be a case of patience for Furlong now.
Gibbs has already missed a chunk of the season through injury and Ferguson has shown slight inconsistencies and the ability to get himself sent off.
Furlong will get his chance once again but for now, the right-back can certainly feel hard done by for losing his spot in the team when he has not really put a foot wrong.
In other West Brom news, Albion are “legally protected” over one player they signed on loan in the summer.