Carlos Corberan must drop Brandon Thomas-Asante after what he did in West Brom v Preston
Carlos Corberan should consider dropping West Brom striker Brandon Thomas-Asante for the play-offs after his poor performance against Preston North End.
West Brom held their nerve to beat Preston 3-0 at The Hawthorns on Saturday (4 May).
The win secured fifth position in the Championship for the Baggies and sets up a play-off semi-final clash with Southampton, with the first leg to take place at The Hawthorns on Sunday (12 May).
Thomas-Asante is West Brom’s top scorer this season, but the 25-year-old struggled against Preston on Saturday, with Tony Brown left in shock after the striker missed a glorious chance during the first half.
The West Brom legend said on BBC Radio WM (4 May), “I can’t believe he’s missed that.
“It’s in the six-yard box, nobody is with him. It’s on his left foot – maybe not his best foot – but he’s got to score there.
“What an opportunity. He has to get that out of his mind as quickly as possible and not linger on that. Dear me.”
Carlos Corberan must axe West Brom striker Brandon Thomas-Asante against Southampton
While Thomas-Asante has netted more times than any other West Brom player this season, he has not been producing the goods as of late.
With just two goals in his last 15 appearances in all competitions, Corberan should perhaps consider leaving the Ghanian out against the Saints.
Thomas-Asante was particularly poor against Preston.
As per Sofascore, the forward could only complete 71 per cent of his passes, with none of those key.
In addition, of his three shots, not a single one was on target while he also missed two big chances and failed with his one dribble attempt.
Defensively he struggled, winning just 40 per cent of his ground duels and losing all three aerial duels while he was also dribbled past once and gave possession away 11 times.
Corberan needs his side to be at their best against Southampton and might therefore consider leaving Thomas-Asante on the bench and finding a way to play without the striker.
In other West Brom news, Darnell Furlong has hailed one of his teammates after the win over Preston.
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