Carlos Corberan provides update on John Swift after absence in West Brom v Stoke City
Carlos Corberan explained John Swift did not feature for West Brom in the 1-1 draw with Stoke City as he had an issue with his hamstring.
Attacking midfielder Swift missed time with a calm problem earlier this season and boss Corberan explained that could have had an effect on his hamstring.
Swift was an unused substitute as West Brom beat Rotherham United on Tuesday (12 December) but did not even make the bench versus Stoke with the medical staff ruling he was not able to play.
In quotes reported by the Express&Star (17 December), Corberan said: “Swift, from the game at Sunderland and the injury he had (before), his body still didn’t fix in 100 per cent.
“At the beginning he still felt fatigue in the calf that was injured and now the fatigue has moved into the hamstring too. Sometimes when you compensate from the calf the pain can appear in another part of your body.
“Yesterday he felt something in the hamstring that we evaluated this morning with the doctor and they decided he was not ready to perform. He doesn’t have an important injury but there was something there for us not to involve him in the game.”
Right to be cautious
Swift had a barnstorming start to the season for the Baggies and his six goals in all competitions are matched only by Brandon Thomas-Asante, who notched against Stoke to earn his side a point.
It goes without saying that he is a big miss from this side when he does not play and he would have be a very useful option to have against the Potters, who West Brom could just not find a winner against.
But ultimately there is still just over half of the season remaining to play and we are about to enter an extremely busy Christmas period, so risking Swift here and him missing a lot of games would have been foolhardy.
Obviously, the hope is now that he will soon be back in the team, especially for those aforementioned festive games, where Corberan will want as many players fit as possible to negotiate a tricky fixture list.
In other West Brom news, there is one player Corberan should axe after his performance versus Stoke.