Positive time for West Brom academy as coach reveals Carlos Corberan's keen interest

That is according to Albion's PL2 boss Richard Beale - who has expressed his pride at seeing an increased number of youngsters in and around the first team set up.

Following on from a string of senior academy players heading out on loan, Corberan has handed chances to a number of young stars.

Tom Fellows and Caleb Taylor have been regular figures in the squad this season, with a number of others included.

Harry Whitwell and Reyes Cleary were named on the bench for the trip to Coventry, while Josh Shaw, Akeel Higgins and Layton Love featured among the substitutes against QPR.

And Beale insists that having players in the first team set up comes above PL2 results.

He said: “The results are very much secondary to what we do here.

"What’s more important is getting around the first team and we’ve done really well this year in getting the lads lots of exposure to that in training and games.

“The manager has deemed them to be of the level required to be with his group and on Monday they had Reyes, Harry, Tom, Caleb on the bench, Layton, Josh and Akeel the game before, so it’s been a really good few weeks in that respect.

“It’s also a shot in the arm for a lot of the boys here and at West Bromwich Albion, the good thing is that there is a pathway. Lots of the boys get opportunities to train with the senior team and it’s fantastic to be in the first team coach’s eye-line."

Corberan's hand has been somewhat forced to look at what else is available in the youth ranks, given the injury situation he has faced with a number of senior players being ruled out.

However, Beale revealed that Corberan is always keeping a keen eye on academy proceedings and is willing to give chances to young talents.

He added: "He takes a keen interest and if he’s not at our games, he watches the clips, individual bits of footage and we have a good dialogue on all those young players.

"It’s fantastic to see Harry Whitwell, who’s still 17, on that bench and performing to a high level every day in training.

“What’s important are the first team results. What’s important is we’re developing youngsters who are getting into the team. We want to win games at every level at this football club, but we’re going into games short on numbers or with a younger team and they’re battling really hard.

“By having those U18s around us, the manager can see them and he can then help us with their individual plans. His staff are good, they’ll speak with the players and it’s not always the case with first teams that they’ll improve individuals.

“But with Carlos and his staff, they improve every person who trains with them which is fantastic."