Carlos Corberan simply must bring on Semi Ajayi at HT in West Brom v Southampton
Carlos Corberan simply must bring on Semi Ajayi at half-time in the West Brom game against Southampton on Friday (16 February).
It was a shaky first-half performance from the Baggies defence, with Erik Pieters lining up alongside Cedric Kipre in the heart of the backline as they went in 1-0 behind at the break.
The Nigerian international Ajayi started the game on the bench as the Albion defenders struggled to deal with the threats posed by the Saints’ forwards.
They went behind to a goal from Ryan Fraser on 14 minutes when the winger found himself in acres of space at the back post before finding the back of the net.
Ajayi hasn’t played a minute of football for the Baggies since the 1-0 defeat against Swansea City on New Year’s Day, having been away with Nigeria at the Africa Cup of Nations.
The 30-year-old showed during the tournament that he is more than capable of doing a job still after helping his side reach the final before losing out to hosts Ivory Coast.
With Kyle Bartley currently sidelined through injury, the centre-back would have hoped to be named in the starting lineup against Southampton, but Pieters was given the nod ahead of him.
The Dutch defender didn’t look entirely comfortable playing in a back two alongside Kipre, having won just one of his five duels [SofaScore].
The 35-year-old also made two fouls as the pace of the Saints forwards continued to give him trouble throughout the half at The Hawthorns.
Ajayi could potentially provide Albion with more stability than Pieters in the backline as they look to get back in the game against their promotion rivals.
Corberan will know the importance of picking up a result and this could be the best way to shore things up at the back and allow them more freedom to get players forward and involved in the attacks.
They will need to put in a big performance in the second half.
In other West Brom news, Jed Wallace has sent a Zinedine Zidane message to an Albion star.
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