View: West Brom ace impresses on return to action, 29y/o will struggle to get spot back
Slaven Bilic decided to hand West Brom defender Ahmed Hegazi his spot back in the side in the 0-0 draw against Birmingham on Saturday.
The Egyptian international had been struggling with an injury before the lockdown and handed his spot back to Kyle Bartley who has played the majority of the season alongside Semi Ajayi.
Bilic appears to favour the partnership of Hegazi and Ajayi, and his decision was rewarded with a clean sheet in the Championship.
Looking into Hegazi’s performance against the Blues, the experienced defender has certainly cemented his spot for the game on Friday at Brentford.
The 29-year-old won four aerial battles against the powerful Lukas Jutkiewicz, only Darnell Furlong won more for the Baggies in the entire game [WhoScored].
As well as impressing in the air, Hegazi was quality on the ball – making 68 passes, only Romaine Sawyers completed more on the entire pitch.
Hegazi also completed more key passes than Ajayi and had a better afternoon that the Nigerian who has caught the eye massively.
Bartley has made 22 more appearances than the Egyptian this season, and the stats prove that he has been more of a success at the back.
The former Leeds man has completed more tackles, interceptions, clearances and blocks. Bilic will know that, but after Hegazi impressed on Saturday, he will be undroppable.
Hegazi has only made 11 appearances, and that is mainly down to his injury problems but now that he is fully fit, we can expect him to feature in the final eight games of the season.
In other West Brom news, the Baggies are set to complete the paperwork for a major transfer this week
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