West Brom absentees explained after Erik Pieters and Semi Ajayi miss Huddersfield clash
West Brom duo Semi Ajayi and Erik Pieters were missing from the Baggies side in the 2-1 Championship defeat to Huddersfield due to illness, according to Lewis Cox.
The Express and Star journalist shared via his personal Twitter account that both key players fell ill on Friday and therefore were unable to play as West Brom faced the Terriers.
Their absence was felt as Huddersfield ran out 2-1 winners thanks to a 96th-minute goal, with Pieters only able to feature from the bench while Ajayi was left out completely.
An unfortunate situation
In their previous game, the 4-2 victory over Middlesbrough at The Hawthorns, both Pieters and Ajayi played 90 minutes on either side of a solid back three, allowing Darnel Furlong and Matt Phillips to push further forward as wing-backs and create further up the field.
The absence of both players appeared to be the inspiration behind Carlos Corberan’s decision to change his formation in favour of a back four, with the aforementioned wing-backs dropping deeper as full-backs, and Connor Townsend replacing Matt Phillips in that role, limiting their influence in the attacking phase of play.
Instead, Kyle Bartley was selected to start alongside last week’s goalscorer Cedric Kipre at the back, with Townsend preferred as the defensive option at left-back while Phillips started the game further forward in a different role as a winger.
With two key absentees in this game, the Baggies fell to a shock defeat at home, which has become a rarity under Carlos Corberan, whose record at The Hawthorns is unmatched by any other side since his arrival last season.
In other West Brom news, Fabrizio Romano shared news of another Baggies exit.