Carlos Corberan: Absence of ‘important’ Matt Phillips affected game plan in West Brom loss v Burnley
Carlos Corberan believes the absence of “important” winger Matt Phillips had a sizeable impact on his West Brom side’s tactical setup in the loss to Burnley, according to the Express and Star.
The Baggies went toe-to-toe against the league leaders but were stung twice in the last 15 minutes of the encounter to fall to a disappointing 2-1 defeat.
Darnell Furlong gave West Brom the lead after just seven minutes, but Vincent Kompany’s side grew into the game after the break, with Nathan Tella striking the equaliser before Scott Twine scored a beautiful freekick in the closing stages.
Corberan highlighted the impact Phillips – who could be sidelined for three months – had on his side, especially in the press.
He said: “Of course I cannot lie to you Phillips missing was important because I cannot tell you how much he was an important player for us.
“But I don’t know if the result would have changed or not (with him), I can tell you it’s a miss of one important player if you see his minutes from when I arrived here, he’s been playing, (it) is very obvious
“To not have Asante in this situation was another player who was very useful at Burnley to press or to counter-attack, but we didn’t have.
“I knew this before and tried to create the game to help us do something else that we didn’t do.”
Big blow
The injury to Phillips is a huge dent in the Baggies’ promotion bid this season, as the Englishman had been one of the team’s star performers since Corberan’s arrival.
The Spanish manager must now mull over whether he will need to make a late swoop into the January market to replace the 31-year-old or if he deems his current crop of attacking players up to the task.
Although Phillips is injured, the Spaniard can still call upon Jed Wallace, Grady Diangana and Karlan Grant in wide areas, but the match against the Clarets proved that strength in depth is crucial due to the physical demands of the Championship.
Although Ashley Barnes failed to find the net in attack for Burnley, it was his replacement Twine who provided the moment of magic to help claim all three points. A loan move for the likes of Leeds striker Joe Gelhardt could prove fruitful, with the 20-year-old able to play anywhere across the front line.
In other West Brom news, Ron Gourlay meets with concerned Baggies fans to discuss Guochuan Lai’s failure to repay the loan.