Carlos Corberan lays down challenge to in-form West Brom defender Cedric Kipre

The Ivorian centre-back has been his side’s most consistent performer this season in a remarkable response from spending last term on loan at Cardiff.

Kipre, 27, has won praise from Baggies boss Corberan, who admitted he was excited about watching the defender from afar in Cardiff, and the head coach has called on Kipre to continue with his consistency.

“He is playing, for me, well,” Corberan said. “He is showing well he is stable, he is showing consistency and stability in his performances.

“It’s not about when a player listens, because it looks like we have the solutions and not him – good performances depend the players.

“His level of concentration, focus and commitment with his performances have been excellent. The challenge is to keep this level, to try to be the best he can be with himself.

“If he commits with this, learn from mistakes, then he is a more proactive player, he will reduce mistakes and compete well because he has very good skills.”

Kipre is one of several Albion players out of contract next summer and the club will balance new deal talks with the general need to reduce the wage bill, while the uncertainty remains before any takeover from Guochuan Lai is finalised.

“We still haven’t played half of the season yet,” Corberan added.”The challenge is to be consistent in what he is doing.

“When I watched last year (at Cardiff) he was a player that excited me. He played in a line of three, line of four, left centre-back or right, and played many games in a row. He had the physical availability to play many games in a row, which is necessary in the Championship.

“He played with the same level with the ball in the right or left and the reaction to some mistakes important to correct. It’s more of a challenge to fix things if a player doesn’t have the same feeling you see with him. That’s why always the responsibility with performance is on the player.”

Kipre, a 2020 signing from Wigan, has played in all but one of Albion’s 22 Championship fixtures this term. He appeared in 42 of Cardiff’s 46 league games last season, which led to Corberan’s appraisal about his availability.

He is one of few Baggies players yet to succumb to injury this term and has continued in a consistent vein of form. The campaign began with difficulty for the defender, who lost the ball for Blackburn to score in an opening-day defeat at Ewood Park – but Corberan saw exactly the response he demanded.

Kipre said recently: “It’s been nice to see those things being said about me by the supporters, and people at the club as well. It shows they’re seeing the work I’m putting in so it is a nice feeling, but it’s a long season and I have to keep going with that now.

“This is my proper chance now and the fact I’ve been playing so many games can only help me. I’ve had many managers since I’ve been at Albion but Carlos has been great for me, he believes in me, we speak a lot, he always tries to improve me and every single player is good and I’m very happy worth how things have been going.”

He added of the Blackburn incident: “I learn from every game and, of course, especially that one. But the fact the manager spoke to me and put me in the game after showed he trusted me and I think that I needed something like this.

“It gave me a lot of strength but that’s behind me now.”