Before facing his former employers Huddersfield Town, Carlos Corberan provided an optimistic report on the status of West Bromwich Albion’s Conor Townsend, Kyle Bartley, and Brandon Thomas-Asante. Albion has only lost one of their last eight games as they prepare for a 12:00 kickoff on Sunday at John Smith’s Stadium.
Townsend, a left back, Bartley, a center half, and Thomas-Asante, a center forward, have all missed different periods of time over the past three weeks due to hamstring injuries, but they are all getting closer to playing again. In fact, Corberan’s team will have even more depth with all three of them available for the Championship run-in, and perhaps Josh Maja and Matt Phillips won’t be far behind.
Albion emerged from their Wednesday night match against Queens Park Rangers with a point—one that, given the way the game went in the second half, they may not have earned—but even with this setback, they are still four games unbeaten in the league at a pivotal stage in the campaign.
“We didn’t have any issues with any of the participants in the QPR game in terms of their fitness levels,” Corberan stated. “To find out whether Townsend, Bartley, or Asante can be available, we still have training on Saturday. These three players are the ones we should watch to see how they respond to the work.
“They weren’t all working with me, but they were all involved in the proposal and the department in question. They may or may not train on Saturday, depending on the response. They are able to participate on Sunday if they train. Otherwise, the answer is no.
It could be as low as 5%, I’m not sure. They’re not too far apart, so it could be 50% for one, 5% for another, and 35% for still another. These three players—Bartley, Townsend, and Asante—may be available if all goes according to plan, but I’m not sure if they’ll show up for that one. I’ll find out after Saturday.”
While Jayson Molumby has been on crutches and is wearing a protective boot following foot surgery at the beginning of the year, Corberan confirmed that the Irishman is on track to return in time for pre-season in the summer. Although he is making good progress in his rehabilitation, there is no chance we’ll see him again this term.
“It isn’t feasible,” Corberan answered. “Getting him to start the preseason is the challenge. We have no other viable aim than that. We were aware that the injury would not go away after the procedure. He’s wearing a boot; he’s riding a bicycle with it on one side, his regular foot on the other! This is still it. He’s now working on this.”
After the upcoming international break, Yann M’Vila, a free agent who was brought in to cover for the injured Molumby, is anticipated to be fully fit. He made his squad debut at QPR but will need to play in the upcoming weeks.
“After the international break, that’s when M’Vila will be ‘fit,'” Corberan said. “it will be the appropriate time, and it would be the reasonable course of action, but the needs and the current state of the game take precedence over the sensible response. If he participates, it’s because I believe he can provide the squad some competitive minutes.”
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