Report: Three West Brom players not in the country and unable to return
West Brom granted permission for Ahmed Hegazi, Ali Al-Habsi and Kamil Grosicki to head to their respective home nations earlier this month but none are able to return at the moment, according to The Athletic.
After the EFL suspended all fixtures on March 13, Albion allowed Hegazi, Al-Habsi and Grosicki to head to Egypt, Oman and Poland respectively ahead of playing for their countries in international fixtures.
However, before those international matches were cancelled, none of the three players were able to return to England to continue training with the Baggies as the coronavirus pandemic led to countries shutting down borders and planes being grounded.
The Athletic reports although the three players are stuck outside of the country, Albion’s sports science staff remain in contact with them to ensure they are keeping fit.
West Brom players have been training from home since last week in an effort to quell the spread of the coronavirus.
The club has ensured that all players have suitable gym equipment, have diet plans and have advised them on minimising the risk of catching the virus.
There is not a lot more that the club can really do other than trust their players to keep themselves fit with regular exercise at home during this lockdown period.
But with West Brom pushing for promotion to the Premier League, Slaven Bilic should be able to rely on his players to remain at a level of fitness so that when football returns, they can pick up their promotion bid where it was left off.
In other West Brom news, Kevin Phillips has discussed the likelihood of matches being played behind closed doors.