West Brom injury news as Alex Palmer now ruled out until March – Carlos Coberan
West Brom goalkeeper Alex Palmer will spend six weeks on the sidelines after picking up an injury in training, Carlos Corberan has confirmed.
The Baggies goalkeeper was replaced by David Button for the Baggies’ 1-0 victory against Coventry on Friday night (3 February), and his manager confirmed to the Express and Star after the game that he will be out of action until mid-March.
Palmer has been instrumental in the stark turnaround at the Hawthorns in recent months and helped the Spaniard’s side keep five consecutive clean sheets after the World Cup break.
“Six weeks, unfortunately,” Corberan replied when asked the timeframe for the 26-year-old’s injury.
“Yesterday while he was warming up with the goalkeeper coach, he deflected one ball with the foot and he felt something in the knee and the ankle.
“Today, we had a test in the morning to see how he’d react from his pain.
“He was failing the test, he kept failing the test and he started to get inflammation. So we sent him to have a scan, and the scan said he would be out of the team for six to seven weeks.”
Hammer blow
Although Button proved himself to be a more than adequate replacement by keeping a clean sheet against Coventry, the injury to Palmer is still a massive dent in the Baggies’ promotion chances.
The Englishman was quite simply in the form of his life prior to the injury and had been a rock in West Brom’s backline since being drafted into the team in mid-October.
A defence often draws its confidence from its goalkeeper, with the manner by which their No.1 controls the 16-yard box crucial to the whole way a defensive unit operates.
The likes of Erik Pieters and Dara O’Shea had clearly gained a seamless understanding with Palmer from set pieces about who went up for balls, who called for what and, as such, who kept out the goals from being scored.
Luckily for West Brom fans, the club have a more-than-able understudy in Button, who has spent the last 15 years in the English football league at a host of clubs.
In other news, Carlos Corberan opens up on the future of winger Karlan Grant after his Swansea January transfer collapsed on deadline day.