Steve Bruce has offered an update on the fitness of five Albion players.
Bruce spoke about the physical condition of new signings Martin Kelly and Tom Rogic, as well as the rehabilitation progress of Semi Ajayi, Kean Bryan and Daryl Dike.
The boss said: “It’s a really important time for us with players getting closer to fitness and the international break coming up.
“We need to get players up to speed, looking at those who’ve recently joined and those who’ve not had as many minutes as they would’ve liked.
“It’s clear we need to work with Tom Rogic to get him match-fit. He’s done a little bit but we need to make sure he’s ready before he plays in any games. We always knew that would be the case.
“We need to get him up to speed as quickly as possible. He’ll start, really, after the international break.
“In terms of his quality, you don’t play as many games as he did and win as many trophies as he did for a club like Celtic if you haven’t got anything about you.
“We’re delighted to have got him. At the start of the window we didn’t think it would be possible, but towards the end of it became a little bit more possible. Him coming in is terrific for us.
“Martin Kelly will probably take a couple of weeks to get up to speed because he’s been out of it for a little while.
“Semi has had an operation. We’ve listened to specialists and they’ve advised us that was the best thing to do going forward. We’re expecting him to be about another six weeks but these things can change.
“Kean Bryan is making good progress. He’s probably going to be out on the grass and starting to join in with us in the next week or so.
“That’s good news and there’s a bit of light at the end of the tunnel for him after what’s been a difficult time.
“Daryl Dike is on schedule in terms of what we’ve been expecting. We’re still expecting him to be a few weeks yet owing to the severity of his muscle injury, but he’s on course, which is good.”
