Josh Griffiths: West Brom can’t afford for Max O’Leary injury to be serious – here’s why
Josh Griffiths had to replace the injured Max O’Leary in West Brom’s win over Hull, and that could mean the previously dropped number one has to reprise his starting role moving forward.
James Morrison‘s side put back-to-back frustrating draws against Southampton and Sheffield United behind them on Saturday, as they convincingly put promotion-chasing Hull to the sword to the tune of 3-0.
That snapped West Brom‘s 13-game winless run in the Championship, and now has The Hawthorns faithful believing that their team can escape the drop to League One this season.
However, it wasn’t all positives for Albion, as goalkeeper O’Leary was forced off through injury on 66 minutes, after being caught by Hull defender John Egan.
Josh Griffiths hasn’t performed well for West Brom this season
O’Leary limped off the pitch as a result, and was replaced by backup goalkeeper Griffiths.
The 24-year-old didn’t have much to do after coming on, as West Brom saw out the game in impressive fashion, helped by the fact that Tigers defender Charlie Hughes was sent off after 36 minutes.
However, as Albion await confirmation of how serious O’Leary’s injury is/isn’t, Griffiths will be preparing to play against Bristol City on Saturday, and potentially beyond too.
Respectfully, that probably won’t be music to the ears of Baggies supporters, as he had lost his place as the number one goalkeeper following O’Leary’s signing from Bristol City on 22 January.
There was a reason for that too, as the Albion academy graduate was largely poor across the first half of the season, making a number of errors and looking overall unconvincing between the sticks.
As per Sofascore, Griffiths has registered a save percentage of just 60 per cent, has conceded an average of 1.5 goals per game and has kept just four clean sheets in the Championship this season.
He’s also prevented -7.46 goals, recorded a passing accuracy of 58 per cent, made two errors leading to goals and has conceded a total of 32 goals, six of which came from outside the box and the other 26 inside respectively.
How does O’Leary’s stats compare to Griffiths’?
After a rocky start to life as a West Brom player, O’Leary has been putting in some far more convincing performances in the Albion goal in recent games.
He was superb against Sheffield United, and was playing well against Hull before suffering his injury problem.
So, how do his numbers from the 2025-26 Championship season compare to Griffiths’? Well, they’re largely better.
As per Sofascore, O’Leary has prevented -1.42 goals in the Championship this season from 15 appearances, has kept four clean sheets and has a save percentage of 62 per cent.
He’s also conceded an average of 1.1 goals per game, has let in just two from outside the box and has made just the one error leading to a goal respectively.
Therefore, whilst his numbers don’t leap off the page either, they are certainly an improvement on Griffiths’, and so Albion will be crossing their fingers that O’Leary’s injury isn’t one that will sideline him for an extended period of time.
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