West Brom dealt blow as Sunderland welcome back Ross Stewart ahead of Championship clash
West Brom resume their Championship campaign with a trip to Sunderland on Monday evening, and the Black Cats could have Ross Stewart back available.
Stewart’s last game for the Wearside club came in August when he scored twice in a home win against Rotherham United.
Since then, Guy Mowbray has had to live without the talented 26-year-old striker. Sunderland have coped well though, with the Black Cats climbing as high as 10th in the Championship.
Mowbray was delighted to welcome Stewart back and said the striker would – at the least – make the bench on Monday night.
“We’ll see how he feels. He was cooling down today (Thursday) with the lads who played in that game. The minimum is he’ll make the bench (against West Brom) as long as he feels strong and confident,” said Mowbray, as quoted by The Northern Echo.
Returning stars
While Sunderland will be overjoyed to see Stewart back in their matchday squad, West Brom have some returning stars of their own ahead of Monday night.
Daryl Dike – who made a one-minute cameo against Stoke City in November – could be in line for a start after featuring for 45 minutes in the friendly loss to Elche.
Karlan Grant and Grady Diangana are also back in contention after taking part in the Spain training camp, while Semi Ajayi also made his return against Elche this week.
Plus, with a full month of training from Carlos Corberan under their belt, the West Brom squad should be confident of going to the northeast and claiming points as they continue their push up the table.
Albion currently sit 21st but a win on Monday could leapfrog them all the way up to 16th. Furthermore, West Brom still boast a game in hand on most of the league.
In other West Brom news, the Baggies are handed a new boost in their transfer pursuit of midfielder Jon Russell