West Brom begin what they will hope will be an eventful and successful end to the Championship campaign on Friday afternoon.
The Baggies are set to travel to The Den to face Millwall. That is the first of eight games they still have to play between now and the end of the regular season.
With Carlos Corberan‘s side currently sat 5th in the Championship table, they will be hoping to cement a to six spot in those final games.
That of course, will then give them the all important chance of winning promotion back to the Premier League via the play-offs.
Now, it looks as though West Brom have been given a double fitness boost, when it comes to their chances of doing exactly that.
Carlos Corberan issues double injury update
Two players that the Baggies have been forced to do without recently are winger Matt Phillips and striker Josh Maja.
Both players have been unavailable for West Brom since December. Phillips suffered a hamstring injury in the defeat to Leicester City. Maja meanwhile, picked up an ankle injury against Sunderland the following week.
Now though, both players are close to a return to action. Indeed Phillips is even in line for a role this weekend.
Providing an update on the West Brom duo ahead of Friday’s trip to Millwall, Corberan was quoted by Birmingham Live as saying:
“Both have been training and like we said before Phillips is in front of Josh in terms of his recovery. Josh completed last Thursday his first full training, so it means right now Phillips will be involved in the squad tomorrow, I can tell you, he will be with the team.
“Josh Maja, I think we are one week away from the medical approval that allows me to involve him, he still needs to accumulate more days of training.
“If everything goes well he will be ready to be part of the squad. We are talking about around a week, if he progresses well, because after a kick in the ankle things can change the possibilities of the player a bit.”
So far this season, Phillips has scored three goals and provided three assists in 19 league games. Maja meanwhile, has scored once in nine games since joining on a free transfer in the summer.
A big boost for West Brom
This will no doubt be extremely welcome news for those of a Baggies persuasion.
Corberan’s side look well set for a place in the play-offs. They will no doubt hope of course, that they are able to convert that into a return to the top-flight of English football.
If they are to that, then with the busy schedule they will be facing over this period, West Brom are going to need as many players fit and available as possible.
That will help them to cope with the demands of this period, and so the returns of Phillips and Maja do look timely.
Phillips was particularly influential at the start of this season prior to his injury. Meanwhile, with Daryl Dike out for a long time, Maja will provide some welcome depth alongside Brandon Thomas-Asante at centre forward.
The return of the duo, therefore gives the Baggies two important options for the remainder of the campaign.
Combine that with the good form they are currently in, and West Brom ought to be returning to action after the international break full of confidence.