West Brom hit by ‘killer blow’ as Carlos Corberan reveals ‘awful’ Matt Phillips injury update ahead of Sunderland clash
Matt Phillips has torn his hamstring and is set to be out for at least four months for West Brom, manager Carlos Corberan has revealed.
Birmingham Live’s Joe Chapman and Express & Star’s Lewis Cox reported from the Baggies boss’ press conference on 6 December via Twitter that the latest injury blow at The Hawthorns is a particularly bad one.
Phillips, 32, limped off in the 2-1 defeat to Leicester City at the weekend and the possibility of him missing the whole festive period already looked serious enough, but it has proven to be far worse than that for the versatile wide man.
Chapman wrote: “Just back from Carlos’ presser. Main line is that Matt Phillips’ injury is bad. Torn hammy which means at least four months on the sidelines. Hopefully back for the run-in. Killer for the player and his boss.”
While Cox wrote: “Awful news from this afternoon’s press conference. Matt Phillips out for four months with hamstring tear.”
Major
It doesn’t seem to rain but pour when it comes to West Brom injuries at the moment and this one is clearly a huge blow for both Phillips and the manager.
With Jed Wallace already unavailable after re-injuring the same shoulder he has previously had problems with it is all the more of a concern for Corberan as he looks to bounce back from the heartbreaking late loss at home to the league-leaders.
Phillips has chipped in with three goals and three assists in the Championship this term and has been a big part of the manager’s plans as the Baggies have pushed firmly into the play-off picture.
He hadn’t missed a game in the league yet this season and had started all but one of the 19 fixtures so far, so it is clearly a concern for Corberan on top of Wallace’s issue.
With injury absentees a near-constant this term the two key wingers being out has come just as it looked like the fitness picture in the squad was starting to improve, with Josh Maja back and scoring his first West Brom goal, and Kyle Bartley potentially available for the weekend.
But with Okay Yokuslu also suspended for the lunchtime kick off against Sunderland on Saturday (9 December) he has a very unwelcome selection headache to contend with.
In other West Brom news, any member of the squad could be on the way out in January as the club acknowledge they have to listen to any serious offers.