Mowbray gives worrying injury update as new concern emerges for West Brom v Watford
West Brom head into a crucial juncture of the campaign with several injury concerns.
The Baggies are eighth in the Championship table, five points behind Coventry who occupy the final playoff place.
Albion need a huge swing in the final five matches of the campaign to achieve their goal of making the end-of-season showdown and they can start with a positive result against Watford (12 April).
Mowbray gives concerning West Brom injury update
Mowbray is not expecting to have Semi Ajayi, Jed Wallace or Josh Maja back for the contest at The Hawthorns.
Ousmane Diakite went off with an ankle problem during the 2-1 loss to Bristol City and Torbjorn Heggem missed the Ashton Gate clash and a new injury concern has emerged following the contest.
Tammer Bany featured for the final 25 minutes against the Robins but he is now a doubt for the Watford clash in a fresh injury blow.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference (10 April), Mowbray said: “Bany has been away for a scan on a hamstring.
“Friday is the day we make decisions on whether they train, because if they don’t train Friday, then they won’t play.”
West Brom need to finish the season strongly
There is still a chance for Albion to secure a place in the playoffs. They travel to Coventry on 18 April so could in theory be just two points behind if they can secure victory.
The Baggies’ last three matches are all favourable, as they are against teams battling for survival with a trip to Cardiff (26 April) sandwiched in between home matches with Derby (21 April) and Luton (3 May).
| Championship | Played | GD | Points |
| 6. Coventry | 41 | +5 | 62 |
| 7. Middlesbrough | 41 | +11 | 60 |
| 8. West Brom | 41 | +11 | 57 |
If they are to have any chance, though, Mowbray needs to arrest a poor run of form that has seen his side lose their last three games and throw away their stranglehold on the playoff places.
Albion have failed to win their last five in the second tier, so expecting them to win their next five and secure a potential Wembley berth and promotion to the Premier League seems unlikely.
A loss against Watford would probably consign them to another season of Championship football for sure, while a win would see them still needing results elsewhere to go their way and victory over Frank Lampard’s side in their next outing.
However, in the Championship, you never know as anything can happen.