West Brom star Grady Diangana missed the Birmingham game with a hamstring problem
West Brom star Grady Diangana missed the Birmingham City game with a slight hamstring problem last night.
Speaking in his post-match press conference [via the Birmingham Mail], Valerien Ismael revealed that he decided not to take any risks with the winger.
However, he should be back in the team for the Swansea City game next Wednesday after the 1-0 win last night.
Ismael said: “Grady has a hamstring issue, not too bad. It’s a small issue; we didn’t want to take any risks for this game. My expectation is that he will come back for the next game against Swansea.”
A sensible decision from Ismael.
We all know how temperamental hamstring injuries can be, and if Diangana had played and made it worse, then he could be out for a long time.
Therefore, it was sensible to leave him out, though you could argue that the Baggies missed his drive and creativity on Friday night.
However, in the end, they didn’t need him as a stunning goal from Karlan Grant proved to be enough to condemn Lee Bowyer’s side to defeat.
Diangana has not actually had the best season so far and has failed to score and has only provided one assist in the 11 games that he has played in.
However, that doesn’t mean that he still isn’t a threat with his pace and direct running, and you would have to say that the Baggies missed that on Friday.
Yes, they got the win, but it was an unconvincing performance from them, in all honesty, and it will be great to see Diangana back and raring to go next week.
That decision to rest him could prove to be important for the rest of the season, so fair play to Ismael for making that call.
In other West Brom news, Youssouf Mulumbu sent a tweet after the Baggies beat Birmingham City on Friday.