West Brom news: Steve Bruce has to trust his eyes and play U23 cup finalists against Barnsley
The West Brom Under-23s booked their place in the final of the Premier League Cup last night with a 2-1 win over Fulham at The Hawthorns.
Goals from Caleb Taylor and Mo Faal gave the young Baggies the 2-0 cushion they needed as a late Cottagers fightback was in vain to see them through to the final.
First-team regular Taylor Gardner-Hickman made a rare Under-23s appearance to help them over the line and the club’s manager Steve Bruce was also in attendance to witness the great night in B71.
Albion will find out their opponents for the final tonight as Midlands rivals Wolves host Middlesbrough in the other semi-final.
It’s a superb achievement for the Baggies youngsters but they don’t want to be playing academy football for much longer and Bruce has the perfect chance to see what they are all about in the men’s game.
This Saturday lunchtime will see the Championship’s bottom club Barnsley come to The Hawthorns with their relegation already confirmed.
Albion themselves are not in either promotion or relegation contention so this couldn’t be more of a dead-rubber game if it tried.
That makes it the perfect stage to throw a handful of these players who are itching for a chance exactly that to see what they can do.
Bruce has witnessed in front of his very eyes how well they were able to handle the pressure of a big academy game and there is no evidence to suggest they won’t take like a duck to water in the senior game.
Given how uninspiring this season has been, the team could really use some fresh impetus and with the Under-23s doing so well, there is plenty of that waiting to be unleashed onto the Championship.
In other West Brom news, there looks to be a reshuffle in the Baggies backroom staff with one notice already handed in.
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