View: Last-chance saloon for West Brom outcast Callum Robinson v Newcastle
Callum Robinson is becoming the forgotten man at The Hawthorns but he has a chance to resurrect his West Brom career v Newcastle United.
The 26-year-old enjoyed a terrific start to the current campaign, scoring against Harrogate Town in the League Cup on September 16 before hitting a 21-minute double against Chelsea in the Premier League 10 days later.
But those two goals have proved to be his last.
Robinson has now gone a mammoth 18 games without a goal and is teetering on the edge of Albion obscurity.
He suffered the humiliation of being substituted at half-time in consecutive games v Manchester City and Fulham in January and has been rotting on the bench in the last five matches without being called upon.
With Mbaye Diagne preferred as the central striker Robinson is being squeezed out of his favoured role where he has made the majority of his appearances this season [12/15 Premier League starts this season have come as a centre forward, per WhoScored].
But one thing Robinson possesses is pace and that is a quality lacking in the Albion forward ranks.
Matt Phillips has started on the left-wing in the last three games but he seems to lack the explosiveness of old and has offered very little going forward.
Grady Diangana made his comeback from injury v Brighton on February 27 but he is expected to miss the Newcastle clash on Sunday through illness.
At West Brom News we think this is the perfect chance for Robinson to stake his claim for the rest of the season.
According to Transfermarkt Robinson has made more outings as a left-winger in his career than any other position – 101 games where he has directly contributed to 36 goals.
While the majority of these appearances were in the Championship for Preston North End it still hints at a player well versed in how to operate in this role.
We’ve already seen the likes of Dara O’Shea and Conor Townsend take on starring roles of late despite spells out of the side and Robinson needs to make sure he is the next one to emerge from the shadows.
The chances of him starting v Newcastle are next-to-nil but with no Diangana on the bench Big Sam may look to him to provide some pace off the bench against a team struggling with defensive injuries.
Javier Manquillo and Emil Krafth are their two senior right-backs but the former is definitely out and the latter is a doubt [Sky Sports] after coming off against Wolves in their previous outing.
That could mean a slow centre-back shifting across to cover, something Robinson could exploit with his speed, or winger Jacob Murphy could be pressed into action and might struggle with his lack of defensive awareness.
Robinson has the attacking nous to make clever runs between centre-back and full-back so this could be an area for him to target.
The time is now for Robinson to step up and prove himself, otherwise he will become the forgotten man in the West Midlands.
In other West Brom news, our view on how Dara O’Shea has battled to become a central figure in Albion’s survival scrap.
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