West Brom interim team hopeful when it comes to squad health

The relentless nature of the fixture list has meant for little training time either side of Christmas and the new year with the focus on preparation and recovery.

Chris Brunt, Damia Abella and Boaz Myhill took over from Carlos Corberan following the first fixture of a run of five games in 14 days. The interim team managed five points from a possible 12.

Albion's weary squad has been tested throughout the period but the managerless Baggies could have come out of the intense sequence in a stronger place having avoided any new injury setbacks.

Brunt confirmed the squad would be given a couple of days off ahead of a return to work in the middle of the week with an eye on the next clash, the FA Cup trip to Bournemouth in the third round on Saturday.

"I think we've come through, touch wood, relatively unscathed," said Brunt. "You're asking boys to go to their limits there. This period of games has been particularly hectic. It's been a long time since I was involved, but it's been tough for all involved.

"I said they're probably sick of the sight of each other, sick of the sight of the staff and it'll be nice for them to get away for a couple of days with family."

It remains to be seen whether the club will appoint Corberan's successor in time for the FA Cup with an eye on securing the new head coach in time for the next Championship fixture against Stoke on Saturday week.

Players' minutes required managing through the period with experienced defender Kyle Bartley rested at Swansea on Saturday. Winger Tom Fellows was withdrawn at half-time on New Year's Day against Preston and was a second-half substitute against the Swans, where he netted the opener from the bench.

A boost for the Baggies was the return to fitness for midfielder Alex Mowatt and defender Mason Holgate, who both missed a brief period with groin pain. Summer signing Ousmane Diakite made three starts in place of Mowatt and caught the eye in what looked like his breakthrough in Albion colours.

Holgate played in place of Bartley in south Wales and performed well. Club captain Jed Wallace was a surprise starter in place of Fellows and was a thorn in Swansea's side in the first period, where Albion spurned countless opportunities to find the breakthrough.

It was just a third league start for Wallace, 30, in a frustrating campaign for the winger. He broke into some promising situations but could not take advantage.

"Jed gives us energy and enthusiasm, he's an experienced guy and we saw it in the first half with the amount of running he did, running in behind people," Brunt said.

"It was always going to be the case (he'd come off), he's not played a massive amount of football for what he's used to, so to ask him to run like it for 90 minutes when not being overly match fit would be the case."

The interim head coach added of goalscorer Fellows:  "We gave Tom a rest the other day and to only bring him on for half an hour probably worked out well actually. He took his goal well.

"He goes past people, does his step over and gets a cross in. but when he's in the box he's not afraid to come in on his left and shoot and it paid off."

Luckless striker Daryl Dike is making his progress in his bid for a competitive return after almost 12 months out. The striker has featured in parts of team training but will need more consistent work and potentially under-21 match involvement before a senior comeback.