Sky Sports pundit backs ‘quality’ Erik Pieters to make positional change at West Brom after Sunderland win
We’re delighted to welcome former West Brom striker Kevin Campbell as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at The Hawthorns…
Injuries to Semi Ajayi and Kyle Bartley forced Carlos Corberan to rely on Erik Pieters at centre-back as West Brom beat Sunderland 2-1.
The Baggies extended their winning run to four straight matches under Corberan on Monday, with Tom Rogic and Daryl Dike scoring at the Stadium of Light.
But eyebrows were raised before kick-off when Corberan trusted Pieters to play alongside Dara O’Shea in defence. The Dutch international was brought in as a free agent in the summer and was meant to provide left-back competition for Conor Townsend.
However, after playing well in the heart of defence, Kevin Campbell sees no reason why Pieters can’t transition into a centre-back in the twilight years of his career.
Speaking exclusively to West Brom News, Campbell said: “Why not? He’s very experienced.
“He knows the game and it’s the Championship.
“In the Championship everything should be in front of him and he has quality on the ball as well. I don’t see why he can’t play there moving forward.”
With Ajayi and Bartley hopefully back soon, Corberan will hope that he doesn’t have to rely on Pieters at centre-back too much this season.
However, he now knows that the Dutchman can fill in and plug the gap if needed. Pieters himself would probably prefer to return to his preferred left-back spot next match, but to do that he’ll have to fend off Townsend.
Now just eight points off the play-off positions, Albion can turn their attention towards the clash against Rotherham on Saturday. Pieters might not retain his spot in defence but he’ll certainly be called on again in what is set to be a hectic second half of the season.
In other West Brom news, Carlos Corberan takes to Twitter to reflect on the win over Sunderland