Kevin Phillips: ‘No brainer’ for Steve Bruce to bring Sam Johnstone back at West Brom
We’re delighted to welcome former West Brom striker Kevin Phillips as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at The Hawthorns…
Kevin Phillips believes it was a ‘no brainer’ for Steve Bruce to bring Sam Johnstone back into the fold at West Brom.
The goalkeeper was axed from the first-team squad by Valerien Ismael after his red card against Cardiff and a subsequent bust-up between the two.
The England international was recalled to the team immediately by new manager Bruce, however, for their defeat to Sheffield United and Phillips believes the new boss would have been ‘daft’ not to.
“I said it straight away that you’d be daft not to bring your best goalkeeper back into the squad,” he exclusively told West Brom News.
“I think it’s kind of a no-brainer to bring him back in because he’s a top-quality keeper so it’s pretty obvious that you go in as a new manager, I’ve kind of experienced it here, probably our most influential player has been left out so you try to get them back in as quickly as you can.”
“It’s quite an obvious one, to be honest.”
Johnstone is expected to start once again on Monday night when Bruce takes charge of his first game at The Hawthorns against Blackburn.
The Baggies have slipped down to ninth place in the table after a dismal run of just three wins in 15 games and five defeats in their last six.
A win will push them up to seventh, just a point behind Middlesbrough in the playoff places with 13 games remaining to get back into the Premier League.
In other West Brom news, a key man is still missing and one change is expected in the predicted West Brom XI versus Blackburn.