West Brom concerned by mystery John Swift issue as Carlos Corberan reveals no injury evidence
West Brom remain “concerned” about the pain that John Swift is experiencing despite scans revealing there is no injury to his calf, according to Express & Star.
The paper reported via their website on 5 June from Carlos Corberan’s pre-match press conference ahead of the FA Cup tie with Aldershot Town, with 28-year-old one of six potential starters struggling to make the line-up for Sunday.
Swift has been in and out of the side since October as one of numerous players plagued by fitness complaints this season, but despite being restricted to just over 20 minutes off the bench in the win over Leeds United, before missing the New Year’s Day defeat to Swansea altogether there is no evidence of damage.
That has left West Brom searching for answers over the mystery issue that the attacker is carrying which is affecting his ability to perform at present.
Corberan said: “Swift also had fatigue, but there is no injury in the muscle. This is a positive thing, but the negative thing is that he wasn’t able to be a part of the game at Swansea.
“We managed the minutes before and now we must go into more detail as to why, without injury, the player hasn’t been able to play normally, as he had before.”
In the dark
No muscle injury appears to be a positive development, but if Swift is still struggling to play then it ultimately doesn’t benefit Corberan or the team very much.
It seems a very West Brom problem this term for even players who aren’t actually injured to still be in pain and unable to feature.
Swift had started the campaign on fire, scoring six and assisting one in the first 11 Championship fixtures, but since missing five consecutive matches through October and November his impact hasn’t been the same.
Clearly the Baggies medical staff will need to get to the bottom of whatever it is that is bothering the former Reading man because he can be key for Corberan.
And with so many other attacking options out long-term or struggling under the weight of games recently it becomes all the more pressing to get him back playing regularly.
Swift is set to miss the cup tie this weekend and the hope will be that another week of rest helps him be ready in time for the clash with Blackburn on 13 January.
But if he is being ruled out without any obvious reason then it is a problem that could easily continue to crop up through the season.
In other West Brom news, Chris Lepkowski has suggested “serious witchcraft in play” at the club after major blows hit the team.