Carlos Corberán says he will have to make a late decision about captain Jed Wallace’s involvement in the match against Blackburn Rovers - and also gave an update on the fitness of midfielders John Swift, Adam Reach and Jayson Molumby.
The Baggies face Jon Dahl Tomasson’s side at The Hawthorns this Saturday as they return to Sky Bet Championship action following the Emirates FA Cup victory over Aldershot.
The boss admitted he does not yet know whether his skipper will be available, but did have positive news when asked whether Swift could feature.
Carlos said: “The fact that, in the image they showed, there is no injury, gives confidence to John. He has managed to train well during the week and it’s been positive.
“For Wallace, the important thing is to see how he is, and how many minutes he can play.
“It depends on medically whether he’s ready to play or not, and then physically how many minutes. It depends on the green light for both. If you have the green light, then you can play him.
“If it’s a green light for him to play the full game then that’s one picture. If he can only play a part of the game, then that’s another picture. Still, I need to wait to know this.”
The boss added: “The fact that we didn’t take any risks with Reach in the cup game meant he could train. Not normally with the group, but he has trained some of the days that we’ve trained, and he will on Friday train with the squad.
“Molumby doesn’t have a chance of making the next game.
“Maybe he will be available for Norwich is how I see it, because it’s not a muscle injury. It’s the kick in the foot he received against Leeds. That’s why he couldn’t make a single training yet and so, until he is ready to train, he cannot be ready to play.”
Corberán also evaluated how the squad are feeling after a brutal festive schedule which saw them face five games in 15 days.
“It was very important to manage the days well after the Christmas period for everybody," he explained. "Playing four games in a row with just two days between the games was a very demanding period of the competition.
“Some players were playing all the minutes of these games. Against Aldershot, we needed to consider if they had a replacement or not, and how affected they were by the previous games.
“I like to play games, and I like to take training. But it’s true that you have two ways to prepare for games - when you have time, and when you don’t have time.
“What do I prefer? To have time. Because then you can take training, you can spend time watching the opponent. When you have less time, you have less time for everything.
“That’s part of the competition and I know that’s part of the journey. We just try to do our best in the different conditions.”
