Carlos Corberan provides fitness update on West Brom ace Kyle Bartley
Carlos Corberan has affirmed Kyle Bartley is still on the cusp of a full recovery after returning for West Brom against Sunderland.
Corberan’s update was posted in quotes reported by the Express & Star [28 November] as the latest emerged on his central defender, who played the first half before being taken off at half-time with Uros Racic dropping into defence to help see out a clean sheet.
It was revealed Bartley only had one-and-a-half training sessions under his belt and Corberan was advised to play him at the Stadium of Light for no more than 20 minutes, but he completed the first half alongside Torbjorn Heggem.
Corberan said: “He has proved himself a lot to play 45 minutes.
“He completed one training session and a half from six weeks out after Oxford [19 October].”
Kyle Bartley recovery key for West Brom
West Brom are certainly used to drawing games this season, having now picked up an incredible eight draws from their last nine in the Championship.
With plenty of rivals around them also struggling to sustain a strong run, Albion are only out of the play-off places on goal difference to a Middlesbrough side who snatched a late win from The Hawthorns earlier this term.
The stalemate in Sunderland felt nailed-on in hindsight, with the Black Cats having slipped out of the automatic promotion spots for the first time since August, having themselves now drawn each of their last five.
Only Sheffield United and Burnley boast a superior defensive record to the Baggies, who prided themselves on that robustness at the back last season, Bartley a key part of it.
His full return will be a major boost for Corberan and his squad moving forward, as the team travel to face Preston North End – another specialist side in draws – on Saturday at Deepdale [30 November].
In other West Brom news, Don Goodman measures what a risk Corberan may have been for Leicester City.
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