Carlos Corberan gives West Brom players one key international break instruction

Senior Baggies players are enjoying time off in the third international break of the season before training resumes on Friday, with a busy schedule ahead either side of Christmas and no break until March.

Some squad members have jetted overseas to take in some late-year sun with others spending family time on these shores with head coach Carlos Corberan permitting time off before training and preparation for a home clash against high-flying Ipswich ramps up next week.

“After this break, we are going to move to another type of period,” Corberan said. “That’s why we’ll have time to rest and recover. Managing the international break depends on the number of games in a row we are going to play and weeks in which we can recover.

“We know that the most demanding period of games start after this break, that’s why we are going to add a number of days to guarantee the recovery of the players.

“Then we know that when we come back, they aren’t going to have the possibility to find a moment to rest or break, until later in the season.”

Albion team-mates Okay Yokuslu, Alex Mowatt, Conor Townsend and Kyle Bartley are in Dubai.

Others have limited rest on international duty, with Grady Diangana flying out to meet the DR Congo squad, as Semi Ajayi does likewise with Nigeria. Jayson Molumby is on Republic of Ireland duty.

Corberan said: “We must try and get everything we can from this break, manage it well. After (Southampton) we’ll have the possibility to recover, refresh and be ready for the new challenge we are going to have after the break.”

The Baggies are amid a challenging run of fixtures against some of the Championship’s current leading sides. Ipswich and Leicester visit The Hawthorns after the break with trips to Cardiff and Sunderland also on the horizon as action returns.

There are clashes with Middlesbrough, Norwich and Leeds either side of Christmas, all of whom would have been tipped to push for promotion this term.