Carlos Corberán revealed Saturday’s Sky Bet Championship clash with Norwich City will arrive too soon for Kyle Bartley, but fellow defender Gianluca Frabotta is back in contention.
Bartley has missed the last five matches owing to a knee issue, with Frabotta unavailable for recent encounters against Burnley and Hull City.
The boss hopes to have the club’s No.5 ready for next weekend’s battle at Preston North End, but hasn’t ruled out his participation in next Tuesday’s fixture at Sunderland.
Carlos said: “Kyle Bartley won’t be involved against Norwich City this weekend.
“The target for him is for Preston next weekend, but we will check about Sunderland based on the progress he makes in training over the next few days.
“Gianluca Frabotta has been back in training and should be involved in the squad as long as everything goes to plan leading up to the game.”
The Canaries head to The Hawthorns having lost three in-a-row, but Corberán believes this weekend’s guests are “built to attack and press” and is expecting a really challenging test.
The Spaniard said: “Small details affect where you are positioned in the table. Norwich start the latest round of fixtures in the bottom half of the division but only a few points separate so many teams.
“They’re a team who have hit the woodwork seven times this season, which is the joint-highest in the division. What does that mean? That means that, perhaps, they could have had seven more wins, or four wins more and three more draws.
“I see Norwich coming up against the same challenges that we have been and will keep on facing throughout the season. The Championship is so difficult and they arrive at The Hawthorns having not won in any of their last six. This does not mean they are a bad team, it means they have had some difficulties in recent weeks, as every team will in this division.
“Norwich are one team who usually have about 60 per cent of the ball in games. They’ve dominated possession even in recent matches when they have lost.
“They’re built to attack and they’re built to press. If we don’t break the press, we will suffer. If we don’t defend well and attack well, we will suffer. It’s not going to be an easy challenge.
“No game is easy to win in this league, but no game is impossible to win.”
