West Brom receive triple fitness boost ahead of Leeds clash
Albion are set to have three key players fit and available for their top-of-the-table clash with Leeds.
Kyle Bartley, Kieran Gibbs and on-loan winger Grady Diangana are all expected to be battling for selection after suffering injury setbacks.
Centre-back Bartley has been missing since rolling his ankle in the 1-1 draw with Brentford on December 21, while Gibbs came off in the stalemate with Barnsley on Boxing Day.
Flying forward Diangana has impressed for the Baggies since joining temporarily from West Ham.
The 21-year-old hobbled off in the win over Birmingham earlier in the month and, after the Hammers sacked Manuel Pellegrini and reappointed David Moyes, there has been speculation that the London club could recall their young talent.
But Slaven Bilic is expecting to have him fit and available to play against Leeds.
Bartley did return to the bench in the 2-0 loss to Middlesbrough and all three players will be in contention to start against the Yorkshire club tomorrow.
Meanwhile, defender Semi Ajayi is determined for Albion to come back fighting on New Year’s Day after the disappointing defeat to Boro.
“We’re bitterly disappointed with the Middlesbrough result, it’s not what we set out to do,” he said. “The fact we haven’t managed to get anything from the game or perform to the standards that we know we can left the boys disappointed.
“Fortunately for us we have a chance to put that right in a couple of days.
“We need to dust ourselves down and move on to the Leeds game.
“We need to make sure we don’t overreact, the Middlesbrough game was obviously a bad result but at the end of the day it’s only our second loss of the whole season.
“We need to take heart from that and make sure it doesn’t happen again. We need to come to the Leeds game with an attitude to put it right.
“Let’s get back to winning ways and there’s no better time to start than on New Year’s Day.
“This is not a time to panic, it’s a time to regroup and come back fighting. I’m sure this group is capable of doing that.”