Saikat Mandal

Thu 16 February 2023 11:10, UK

Aston Villa coach Mark Naylor paid a visit to The Hawthorns on Wednesday (15 February) to watch West Brom against Blackburn Rovers, and he was happy to see young Josh Griffiths making his debut for the club.

Carlos Corberan made a bold decision by dropping David Button for this game. He gave a chance to Griffiths who did really well, despite conceding a late goal, as the game ended 1-1.

Naylor, who was the previous goalkeeping coach at West Brom, has congratulated everyone who was involved in Griffiths’ development at the club for the past 10 years.

BBC journalist Chris Lepkowski responded to his tweet by saying it must be a source of great pride for him, as he played a “big part” in Griffiths’ development.

“Back again at West Brom to see Josh Griffiths make his debut. Congratulations to everyone involved in his development over last 10 years,” wrote Naylor.

“Must be a source of pride for you Mark. Big part of it down to you!,” responded Lepkowski.

Impressive

Button was at fault for the two goals conceded against Birmingham City and Corberan rightly made the decision to drop him.

With Alex Palmar injured, he decided to start with the 21-year-old young talent. Griffiths was recalled from a loan spell at Portsmouth during the January transfer window. He made his 100th EFL appearance last night and one that he will remember for a long time.

In the third minute of the game, he made a fantastic save to deny Ben Brereton Diaz but failed to prevent a late goal from Rovers. Brereton Diaz scored from a free-kick 20 yards out, and although Griffiths got a hand to it, he couldn’t prevent him from scoring.

Corberan should be pleased with this performance, and hopefully, the youngster will be given more chances going forward.

It was the first goal Albion conceded in more than 13 hours of football on their home turf, but Corberan will be really frustrated with the recent results.

In other West Brom news, Albion pulled the plug on a late loan signing on deadline day.