Phil Jagielka could be ruled out for Stoke City v West Brom as early team news emerges
Stoke City could be without veteran defender Phil Jagielka for their clash with West Brom on Saturday (15 April), according to Stoke on Trent Live.
The Potters welcome the Albion to the Bet365 Stadium for their Championship meeting, with just five points separating the two clubs in the table.
But the hosts are waiting on the fitness of 40-year-old centre-back Jagielka and his young counterpart Axel Tuanzebe, who both missed the draw with Birmingham on Monday (10 April).
“Stoke City are sweating on Phil Jagielka and Axel Tuanzebe ahead of a showdown with West Brom this weekend,” according to Stoke on Trent Live.
“Jagielka, aged 40, was nursing a minor injury at St Andrew’s but he is being managed through a tough schedule of fixtures.”
Commenting on the issue, Stoke boss Alex Neil said: “Potentially, Jags will be ok for Saturday, we’ll see how he is but unfortunately he wasn’t available for the Birmingham game.”
Important clash
Veteran Jagielka has performed admirably for the Potters this season, helping the club keep a handful of clean sheets throughout the campaign thanks to his experience at the back.
That experience will definitely be missed should the defender not feature against West Brom, who have looked somewhat dangerous in the final third with three goals in their last two matches.
Those two matches were, however, very disappointing results against Rotherham and QPR. But the silver lightning for Carlos Corberan is that his players should be desperate for a lightning-quick start against Stoke in order to get their playoff push back on track as soon as possible.
Corberan’s men will not have given up on the opportunity to finish in the top six, but those chances are fading ever so quickly amid the club’s poor run of form, where they are now without a win in their last four matches.
Stoke are winless in their last two, and while it is not as worrying as West Brom’s run, the Baggies will try and use the home side’s form to their advantage.
In other West Brom news, Carlos Corberan has no worries about the future of the Albion despite fresh controversy emerging recently over the club’s finances.