Carlos Corberan shares what John Swift told him in West Brom win v Norwich, ‘I didn’t want to…’
Carlos Corberan has revealed that John Swift asked to be taken off during the West Brom game against Norwich City on Tuesday (26 December).
Speaking after the 1-0 victory (via BirminghamLive), the Albion boss said he didn’t want to change the 28-year-old, but he was forced to bring him off for Tom Fellows on 75 minutes after his calf felt “fatigued”.
He added that he needs to see how the attacking midfielder “reacts from the game time” as he spoke about how the Englishman has to be one of the Baggies’ most important attacking players in every match.
“I didn’t want to change him but he was asking for a change because still the calf felt fatigued,” said Corberan. “Still I need to see how he reacts from the game time.
“He has to be one of our more important attacking players – because that’s the role he has in the team. That’s why he’s one of the most experienced and important players for us and that’s the contribution he needs to try to find every single time he’s on the pitch.”
Caution
There is no doubt that Corberan would like to be able to play Swift for just about every minute of every game if he had that luxury.
But as he continues to work his way back to full fitness after his injury layoff for a couple of months, the Albion boss will know he has to exercise some caution in this situation.
The difficulty for the Spaniard is that he doesn’t have an awful lot of attacking options at his disposal and none that can do what the attacking midfielder does on the pitch.
It’s an area he would probably like to strengthen in the January transfer window, but he knows he’s probably not going to have that luxury due to the financial issues surrounding the club at this moment in time.
It is, therefore, absolutely crucial that the Baggies staff stay on top of Swift’s situation because the last thing they can afford is for him to break down again and hamper the club’s promotion hopes.
In other West Brom news, a journalist has shared a “mental hurdle” the Albion players are struggling to overcome.