Carlos Corberan rages over ‘unfair’ Dan Ballard incident after West Brom defeat v Sunderland
Carlos Corberan believes that the injury to Josh Maja sustained by Daniel Ballard was “unfair” during the West Brom defeat to Sunderland on Saturday.
Maja was replaced after just 36 minutes following a challenge from Ballard, which saw the centre-half booked with a scissor-action tackle on the Baggies striker.
Rather than question the punishment for the Sunderland defender, Corberan was more concerned with his own player’s injury after the game.
“I don’t even want to look because, with the Maja situation, it’s something unfair for him,” Corberan said to Birmingham Live on Saturday (9 December). “We signed him without a pre-season, he was little by little getting into the team.
“With this foul, he was eight weeks out of the team. In the last three weeks, we recovered him to be ready with the team and the first time he’s been put in the first XI – because [Brandon Thomas] Asante couldn’t play more than 30 minutes under medical advice – he had another injury, in the same ankle, with a foul.
“The evaluation of the foul is something that depends on the referee and not me.”
A rough ride
On another day, with a different referee, Ballard may not have seen out the whole 90 minutes for Sunderland. Instead, he was able to deputise throughout West Brom’s 2-1 loss on Saturday, scoring the opening goal of the game.
With it being his first foul of the match, referee Darren Bond was lenient with the yellow card but Maja was left in a lot of distress and had to exit the field.
Although not fully involved in the game yet, the 24-year-old was doing everything in his power to stamp his mark.
Unleashing a shot after 10 minutes, boasting an 86 per cent pass success rate, and winning 100 per cent of the ground duels he entered (2/2), Maja was proving to be a good replacement for Brandon Thomas-Asante, who was only fit enough to make the bench.
The Nigerian has only registered one goal for the Baggies in eight appearances since moving back to the Championship from Bordeaux last summer. As a former Black Cats forward himself, a goal against Sunderland would have skyrocketed his confidence, but it was not to be.
Maja is yet to find his feet in England, despite spells with Sunderland, Fulham and Stoke City. And the injury suffered due to Ballard’s challenge will just be yet another setback in the young striker’s West Brom career.
In other West Brom news, Guochuan Lai simply won’t give Corberan what he said he wants at The Hawthorns.