Kyle Bartley start on the cards in West Brom clash v Middlesbrough amid injury doubt
West Brom defender Kyle Bartley could be in line to start the game at home to Middlesbrough on Saturday afternoon (26 August).
That comes after Albion boss Carlos Corberan admitted in his pre-match press conference on Friday (25 August), as covered by BBC WM’s Rob Gurney, that he is waiting on the fitness of centre-back Semi Ajayi ahead of the clash at the Hawthorns.
Bartley will be hoping to receive the nod if the Nigerian international is unable to face the Teessiders, with the Baggies looking to make it three games unbeaten.
More than capable
If Corberan is dealt bad news with regard to Ajayi’s fitness, he will likely have no qualms about calling upon Bartley to step into his shoes.
The 32-year-old is extremely experienced at Championship level and is more than capable of coming in and doing a job in the heart of the defence to help the side out.
The Spanish boss will be hoping that isn’t the case, though, after he has recently settled on a back three of Ajayi, Cedric Kipre and Erik Pieters in recent weeks.
While the Baggies haven’t kept any clean sheets so far this season, that tactic has proven quite profitable in the past couple of games as they have picked up four points against Swansea City and Leeds United.
If Bartley is called upon, he should be able to slot into the back three quite easily from the start despite only playing 26 minutes in the opening three Championship fixtures this season [Transfermakrt].
In other West Brom news, the club are ready to move three stars on to fund new arrivals.