Dan Carter

Tue 5 December 2023 21:10, UK

It’s safe to say it has been a bit of a rollercoaster start to the season for West Brom midfielder Jayson Molumby as the Irishman has seen his role at The Hawthorns change drastically in the last few weeks.

The Irish international was a regular in Carlos Corberan’s midfield in the opening weeks of the campaign, starting the first eight matches of the Championship season, but has not been named in the initial XI by the Spaniard since September.

Molumby has fallen victim to the excellent form of midfield trio Alex Mowatt, Okay Yokuslu and Nathaniel Chalobah who have been rotated by Corberan throughout the Baggies’ recent good run of form, with Molumby instead used sparingly from the bench.

Yokuslu and Mowatt’s performance in Albion’s win over Cardiff City saw Lewis Cox label them as the best midfield pairing on the ball in the Championship and therefore it is understandable that the Irish international has been unable to force his way into the side [Baggies Broadcast, 29 November].

However, the Championship’s bets duo is going to have to be split up when West Brom travel to the Stadium of Light on Saturday 9 December, as Yokuslu is suspended having picked up his fifth yellow card of the campaign in the defeat to Leicester City.

Therefore, Corberan is going to be forced to make at least one change to his midfield and while Chalobah may seem like the obvious option to step into the fray, Molumby may be offered the chance to breathe new life into his fledgling Baggies career.

The last time he played the full 90 minutes in a West Brom shirt was against Bristol City in September, a game which marked the beginning of Albion’s good run form which has propelled them into the playoff race.

At Ashton Gate the 24-year-old broke up play well winning 100 per cent of his tackles, registering an impressive nine ball recoveries and came away with possession in five of his nine duels. He was reasonably creative in possession completing two dribbles and even played seven passes into the final third [Fotmob].

During his last start against Millwall, he looked after possession incredibly well, completing 93 per cent of his 42 attempted passes and even managed to fashion a big chance that Corberan’s side were unable to take.

Both of those games may well have been a long time ago now, but if West Brom want to continue with a midfield pairing that can move the Baggies up the field and act as the engine room, it would make sense to restore Molumby to the starting XI.

If the Irish international can put in a good display against Sunderland it may well kickstart his West Brom career once again as Corberan has shown that he is willing to give players a second chance, the most obvious example being Chalobah whose Baggies career had finished only a matter of weeks ago.

Hopefully, for Molumby’s sake, he gets a runout, otherwise, you have to imagine he’ll consider his future in January.

In other West Brom news, Corberan has set Josh Maja a new challenge to earn his first start in an Albion shirt