West Brom could be without a key man for their trip to Sunderland this weekend.
West Brom make the trip up to Wearside on Saturday afternoon where they face a managerless Sunderland side.
The Black Cats sacked Tony Mowbray on Monday and look set to be without a permanent boss in place for this one.
Carlos Corberan meanwhile sees his side sitting in 5th and in fine form despite a late defeat vs Leicester City last time out, with the Baggies having won five of their last seven in the Championship.
Matt Phillips has been dealt a new injury blow ahead of this weekend, and it looks like Jed Wallace could be missing as well.
Corberan predicts Wallace absence vs Sunderland
Wallace was forced off early in the win over Cardiff City at the end of last month, then missing the Leicester game altogether.
And speaking to Express & Star ahead of this weekend, Corberan gave a fresh verdict on Wallace’s injury, saying:
“Normally with Wallace’s injury he will be around one month or three weeks out, but normally with the character of Wallace you are going to reduce this time.
“Every day he is feeling better, now is starting to have mobility in the arm, it means… it is very difficult to see him against Sunderland, he would surprise me a lot, but with his character and how he manages, he will reduce the time we estimated.”
West Brom coping without Wallace
West Brom gave a good account of themselves vs Leicester, shooting themselves in the foot with their late eagerness to find a winner.
Jeremy Sarmiento continued his run in the XI that game. Now though, with Phillips and Wallace absent, it gives Corberan a slight selection headache.
Expect John Swift to return to the side as no.10, pushing Sarmiento out to the right and leaving Grady Diangana on the left.
Tom Fellows could come into starting contention in the next couple of weeks, or at least whilst Wallace is out, and Josh Maja could share the no.9 spot with Brandon Thomas-Asante.
Despite injury after injury, West Brom remain a team with quality in their ranks, and a great chance of finishing inside the top six this season.
Saturday’s game vs Sunderland kicks off at 12:30pm but a win for the Baggies can only keep them as high as 5th, with Southampton in 4th now five points ahead and Leeds United in 3rd six points ahead.