Richard Beale sets Carlos Corberan challenge for West Brom academy players
Richard Beale says he is challenging West Brom academy players to be next to catch the eye of Carlos Corberan ahead of next season.
West Brom’s under-21 side are second-bottom of the Premier League 2 having lost four matches in a row but, ahead of their final match of the season against Leeds, Beale is more focused on the performance of his players than the result.
Beale admitted that one or two players are already taking the challenge by storm at The Hawthorns.
Speaking to the club’s website (28 April), Beale said: “We’ve all embraced the challenge this year and gone from playing the second tier of Category One clubs to playing all of the big boys, and sometimes it can be tough to compete.
“The most important thing has been the boys showing they can mix it with the best young players at other clubs.
“We’re challenging the boys every day and asking, ‘who’s next, who’s going to get in the manager’s eye-line’, and I can safely say one or two are doing that at the moment.”
West Brom academy prospects could have first-team impact
West Brom are just one match away from cementing a place in the Championship play-offs, and Corberan has been able to rely on several players who came through the club’s academy.
Alex Palmer is the finest example of this, grabbing his opportunity as Albion’s first-choice goalkeeper with both hands and being an ever-present in the side, making 44 appearances and collecting 17 clean sheets along the way.
That record is the second-best in the Championship, and another youngster, Tom Fellows, has also experienced a breakout season, playing 35 times in all competitions and netting five goals for the Baggies.
Albion’s academy production line has also seen even younger players, such as Harry Whitwell, get a smattering of first-team minutes amidst impressive PL2 performances, while the goalscoring form of strikers like Layton Love offers Corberan further depth in attack.
With Hull City breathing down the Baggies’ necks in the Championship play-off race, the filtering in of Albion’s best academy talent next season could be one to watch, no matter what division the club is in.
In other West Brom news, Tony Brown has shared a ‘Nervous’ prediction ahead of the Baggies’ clash with Preston at The Hawthorns.
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