Early West Brom team news v Cheltenham as Grady Diangana ruled out
West Brom manager Carlos Corberan has confirmed that Grady Diangana won’t feature in the Baggies’ first public pre-season friendly against Cheltenham Town tonight, as shared by the Express & Star.
However, four players are set to continue their returns as Matt Phillips, Adam Reach, Kyle Bartley and Nathaniel Chalobah have all recovered from injuries to attend training and featured in behind-closed-doors matches.
Corberan is hoping that fans will be able to see the improvements that his squad have made over the summer break, as West Brom fans are able to get their first sight of their side ahead of the new campaign.
Corberan hopes to learn more about his side, but also is focused on monitoring his side’s fitness: “Sometimes you are too focused in the performance and the injuries affect it. Sometimes you focus on the prevention and then, when you’re ready to compete, it can affect your performance.
“Right now I am 50-50, I focus to develop ideas, yes, but I’m more focused to see which players can do what things in the pitch, that’s my priority.
“It’s not about lose or win, it’s how competitive the team is, which points you need to be competitive in, which players you feel can help you and which players you can find a solution with, it’s about this.”
Four back in time
It’s an added bonus for Corberan to have the quartet of Bartley, Phillips, Cholobah and Reach all return as the Baggies’ pre-season takes a step up. All four will have major roles to play should West Brom be able to mount a play-off challenge this season.
Tonight’s test against Cheltenham Town seems to be as much about conditioning for Corberan as it is about the tactical aspect and Wade Elliott’s Robins will provide a physical test in front of a small crowd at Whaddon Road.
However, it is disappointing that despite the impressive work put in by Diangana throughout pre-season in an attempt to be fit as quickly as possible, this one still comes a bit too early for him to be truly involved.
Pre-season can be such a crucial time for teams to discover a playing identity and that is clearly at least 50% of Corberan’s concern heading to Cheltenham tonight. Hopefully, when the England youth international returns to action, he’ll be able to catch up to the high standards of the Spanish manager quickly.
In other West Brom news, Corberan has vowed that two returning loan stars will be given chances at the Hawthorns this season