West Brom v Blackburn Rovers – who's out and who's a doubt
Albion will have John Swift available for the squad to feature against Blackburn on Saturday but there remains an anxious wait on the fitness of Jed Wallace.
Available numbers continue to drop for Baggies head coach Carlos Corberan, particularly in attacking areas, where they now have just youngster Tom Fellows, 20, as the only recognised attacker fully fit to play behind the centre-forward.
Midfielder Jayson Molumby is an absentee for the visit of Rovers on Saturday, while there is optimism around Adam Reach, who returned to training this week. Striker Daryl Dike is in contention to be involved, but that is unlikely from the off despite his progress with a goal in 45 minutes against non-league Aldershot Town last weekend.
Albion are also without defender Semi Ajayi and Grady Diangana, another of their attacking options, away with their countries at the African Cup of Nations in the Ivory Coast, which kickstart this weekend.
Here is a run through of Albion's availability after Corberan's pre-match press conference, which took place on Thursday afternoon.
Jed Wallace – adductor
Corberan revealed Albion are waiting on the 'green light' for Wallace to feel physically and medically well enough to play some minutes against the visitors from Ewood Park. The likelihood from Albion's head coach was that Wallace was more likely to be on the bench this week. It remains just 14 days from his injury against Leeds when the boss gave a projected period of 21 days – though Wallace is a quick healer and there's a quiet confidence he can feature.
John Swift – calf
A scan this week showed no damage and Swift has been able to manage the pain this week to train in full. He will be able to feature on Saturday, ideally from the off, if he comes through training on Friday.
Jayson Molumby – foot
Albion are hopeful that the Irish midfielder will be back in contention for the trip to Norwich seven days later. He is not expected to feature against Rovers at The Hawthorns after taking a kick to his foot against Leeds at the end of December.
Adam Reach – quad
Reach missed out against Aldershot with quad muscle problem but that precaution has allowed him to train free of pain this week and the versatile option is on track to feature against Rovers, should he come through Friday training unscathed.
Martin Kelly – calf
Corberan mentioned a pain in the calf for the veteran defender when he might have featured against Aldershot last weekend, and he is extremely unlikely to make the squad any time soon with other options.
Matt Phillips – hamstring
The experienced winger remains a long-term absence and will not return until April at the earliest after surgery on a torn hamstring.
Josh Maja – ankle
Like Phillips, Maja had surgery a couple of weeks ago following the terrible challenge by Dan Ballard at former club Sunderland. He also remains on the sidelines until April-May.
