Report names West Brom players likely included in Weds clash with Aston Villa
West Brom travelled to Aston Villa on Wednesday afternoon to complete a secretive friendly at their training ground.
Both Dean Smith and Slaven Bilic were expected to name a number of second-string players in their sides for the game.
The Baggies were coming off the back of a tough 1-1 draw with Brighton on Monday, with Villa being thrashed 3-0 by Leeds on Friday.
Birmingham Live have reported on their website that this game was used by both managers as a chance to give minutes to rarely-seen players this season.
According to the online outlet, West Brom likely gave minutes to a number of their summer signings at Bodymoor Heath.
David Button, Cedric Kipre, Rekeem Harper, and Charlie Austin are four players expected to be used by Bilic against Villa.
Others such as Kyle Bartley who have struggled to feature this month could be used to keep up their match fitness in case they are needed.
Definitely needed
Some concerns may be raised by fans regarding this friendly, but there is no chance that the likes of Matheus Pereira were used.
There aren’t enough under-23s games to keep up the fitness of senior players who aren’t getting a sniff in the first-team, and Villa clearly feel the same.
Dara O’Shea was only expected to miss the Brighton game with his injury, and this clash on Wednesday could give him the perfect chance to feature against Fulham on Monday.
Bilic has now had the chance to see his rarely-used players in action, and it will be interesting to see how they got on.
In other West Brom news, second WBA exit could be sealed without knowledge of Bilic
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