West Brom star kept out of squad v Preston over ‘internal’ matter
West Brom goalkeeper Sam Johnstone was a surprise omission against Preston on Wednesday (25 January) as the Baggies were being easily at Hawthorns.
Johnstone was available for selection again having served his three-match ban following the red card he picked up against Cardiff City.
West Brom boss Valerien Ismael though kept his faith in David Button and revealed after the game that an internal matter saw the England international miss out.
“We had a matter, an issue in the squad and have solved the problem,” he said, as quoted by the Birmingham Mail. “He was not in the squad tonight and he will not be in the squad on Saturday but after that, he will be involved. It will stay internal.”
Ismael also admitted his side were far below the standards he expects and takes his own responsibility for the 2-0 defeat.
“We accept it. I take my responsibility and when we see something like that, the fans have the right to boo and criticise,” Ismael said, as quoted by the Express and Star.
“It was more than disappointing. I think tonight we deserved all the criticism we got and the disappointment and frustration because the performance was not there.”
Dire
Wednesday’s defeat may be the worst of the season and it was no surprise to see fans pouring out of the Hawthorns when Cameron Archer doubled the Lilywhites lead after Emil Riis Jakobsen opened the scoring.
It was a really scrappy affair which West Brom were never able to stamp their authority on as Preston dominated against their more fancied opponents.
This game felt like a real watershed moment as the disgruntled Baggies fans made their voices heard, and rightly so.
Surely this is the moment where Ismael needs to change something to get his side playing like they want to gain promotion back to the Premier League because right now, they don’t look motivated to do so.
If the team keep playing like they did on Wednesday, then Baggies fans will have to prepare for another season in the second tier because even reaching the playoffs is going to be out of the question.
In other West Brom news, Tony Brown was equally incensed at the Baggies performance against Preston.