West Brom fans shocked as star man absent from squad v Bristol City – 'Worrying'

Karlan Grant being left out of the West Brom squad to face Bristol City on Sunday has left fans on social media fearing the worst.

The Baggies posted their matchday squad on X (22 December) with three changes made from their 2-1 loss at Watford last time out, with Grant, Callum Styles and Uros Racic dropping out.

While Racic is named on the bench, Styles and Grant are nowhere to be seen, and the latter's absence having overcome injury to face Watford means his replacement John Swift starts up front with Josh Maja.

West Brom fans react to Karlan Grant absence – 'Big miss'

Grady Diangana's injury struggles this season are well-known, but Grant has been arguably the standout player of Albion's promotion push thus far, making fans' reaction to his absence entirely unsurprising.

One fan dismissed their chances altogether without Grant, saying "cheers for another draw", while further comments presumed that the 27-year-old must be injured despite being fit to face Watford.

A lack of communication from Carlos Corberan was also highlighted, with one supporter saying "nevermind, where is Grant?" upon the matchday squad being named.

The source of that alleged injury was also questioned, with a fan asking "Grant's hamstring playing up", while another made clear just how "worrying" and "weaker" the squad and bench look without him.

Further comments followed with fans barely daring to look at a team without Grant in it, while another fan suggested that the Baggies' number 18 being missing meant they had "no one to run past Maja".

That was highlighted as a key "worry" for the fan in question, and another supporter said just how much of a "big miss" Grant would be, with Swift really needing to "step up" in his absence.

In other West Brom news, Albion have been told to brace for "bumps" in the road when their next set of accounts are released.

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