West Brom must axe Mikey Johnston ahead of Preston clash, could cost promotion
West Brom have dropped out of the Championship play-off spots for the first time this season after yet another draw.
Carlos Corberan’s side have drawn eight of their last nine league matches, failing to hit the back of the net in five of those, and the manager must now be ruthless with his starting XI picks.
The Spaniard clearly realised his decision very early on in the 0-0 draw against Sunderland on Tuesday 26 November, replacing Mikey Johnston after just 45 minutes at the Stadium of Light.
While it was not the correct decision to replace him with Lewis Dobbin, who also failed to make the desired impact for the visitors, Corberan should realise that he cannot continue to put his trust in Johnston.
The 25-year-old has only notched one assist in the league since returning to The Hawthorns, having impressed during his season-long loan from Celtic last term. He has just not been the same.
Mikey Johnston flops in West Brom draw v Sunderland
In his 45 minutes on the pitch, Johnston completed just 77 per cent of his passes, created zero chances, completed 50 per cent of his dribbles and was dribbled past twice [FotMob].
His defensive frailties were also highlighted as he won just 40 per cent of his ground duels and won zero per cent of his aerial duels.
Given that the winger ranks in the top 86 percentile for non-penalty goals, it is clear that the 25-year-old is massively underperforming, though his bottom 26 percentile ranking for assists looks spot on [FBref].
Also ranking in the top 95 and 93 percentiles for progressive carries and successful take-ons, fans have come to expect so much more, but he only continues to disappoint.
With the Baggies now dropping out of the Championship play-off spots, Corberan must make some brutal changes to stop the number of draws recently, and Johnston should face the axe.
In other West Brom news, fans have been blown away by footage of Torbjorn Heggem recently – “Colossus”.
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