Pete Hanson

Sat 9 December 2023 19:10, UK

West Brom great Tony Brown was left perplexed by Carlos Corberan’s decision to bring on Tom Fellows over Brandon Thomas-Asante for Josh Maja in the first half of Saturday’s contest at Sunderland.

Thomas-Asante was dropped from the starting line-up in favour of Maja, who earned the nod after scoring in last week’s 2-1 defeat to Leicester City.

However, Maja was helped off the pitch at the Stadium of Light following a crude challenge from Dan Ballard, who was booked for a scissor challenge when really a red should have been shown.

Thomas-Asante reminded on the bench, though, with Corberan instead opting to bring on 20-year-old forward Fellows, a move that left Brown scratching his chin.

Speaking on BBC Radio WM on Saturday (9 December, 01:04pm), Brown said: “I’m amazed it’s not Thomas-Asante coming on because he’s a natural.

“He’s the natural forward, he’s played there, he knows what the position is all about.”

A surprise one

The biggest shame about the whole thing really was the injury to Maja, who netted last week and was showing good signs against his former club Sunderland before an awful challenge from Ballard ended his afternoon.

The fact that Ballard remained on the pitch was a disgrace in truth, and who knows how much more time Maja – who got little sympathy from the home crowd – will now have to spend on the sidelines.

It is true that the more obvious choice of the two would have been to bring on Thomas-Asante, who is a more natural out-and-out striker than Fellows and has more Championship experience to his name.

But Thomas-Asante has flattered to deceive at times at a bright start to the campaign, so Corberan might have been thinking Fellows offered a little more fluidity across the attack. Maybe he just thought he deserved an opportunity. Either way, Corberan has earned the right to make such decisions.

In other West Brom news, one Sky pundit delivered a “so lucky” verdict after a controversial incident in the first half of the game.