West Brom nearly clear of injuries as Ismael provides positive update
West Brom manager Valerien Ismael has been able to provide a highly positive update regarding the injured players within his squad.
The Baggies currently have just one player out injured as defenders Dara O’Shea and Kyle Bartley are ready for first-team action again for Wednesday’s Championship game against Preston.
The only West Brom player to be missing for the visit of the Lilywhites will be Daryl Dike who has been ruled out for eight weeks after limping off injured at the weekend against Peterborough.
Midfielder Alex Mowatt and number one goalkeeper Sam Johnstone will also be available for selection again after they both received red cards in the grudge match against Cardiff.
“So far everyone is okay who trained today. Alex Mowatt will be back, Sam Johnstone available, so only Dike misses the game,” Ismael said, as quoted by the Birmingham Mail.
“Dara played with the 23s, so everything is better – except the big one. It’s painful but we have to deal with it. It doesn’t change our focus, with Dike, without Dike – the purpose is to win the game.”
The necessity to get on a run
Saturday’s (22 January) 3-0 triumph over Posh hasn’t necessarily fixed the problems at the Hawthorns but it did at least help to stop them widening further.
It took the Baggies 78 minutes to break the deadlock against the joint-worst defence in the division but they crucially got over the line in the end.
What Ismael needs now is to get his team on a bit of a roll where they are able to score at will while keeping their air-tight defence intact.
Admittedly, it is one of the hardest things to do as a manager but if West Brom are to continue their push for automatic promotion, he needs to find a way.
They have been let off recently by Bournemouth’s back-to-back defeats against Luton and Hull but Blackburn are pushing on and have a seven-point gap to the Baggies having played a game more.
For West Brom to keep their push going, these next handful of games have to be wins or they could be out of sight of the Lancashire club when they meet on 14 February at the Hawthorns.
In other West Brom news, the Baggies could be looking at a deadline-busting move after Dike’s injury blow.