West Brom v Blackburn: Carlos Corberan and Albion braced for a special tactical test

Rovers have slipped after a bright start to the season and are 17th with just a single Championship victory in eight.

They boast the division’s top scorer, though, in attacking midfielder Sammie Szmodics. Corberan, whose side are fifth heading into the contest, is less interested in the 19-goal leading goalscorer and more in the style Jon Dahl Tomasson has concocted at Ewood Park.

He feels Rovers offer a specialist challenge as far as the Championship goes – and said the visitors’ style most resembles Tottenham under Ange Postecoglou.

Corberan insists his injury-ravaged squad must be physically and tactically ready to press Blackburn, who will come to The Hawthorns looking to play the ball with every possible opportunity. The Hawthorns head coach added, though, that the visitors are so unpredictable and fluid that their positions will be impossible to detect.

“You need to have all the team in mind – one player isn’t scoring many goals if he is not receiving the balls, Blackburn is a very, very attacking team, very attacking,” Corberan said in response to limiting Szmodics, who has three more Championship goals than his nearest league rivals.

The Baggies boss added: “They are built, in my opinion, to be very dominant in the games. They are a team uncomfortable in defending because they are following and marking our players. this has positive things and challenging things. They are a very unique team.

“They attack a lot and for the way they defend, they are unique, and very difficult to play against, and I saw this in the very first game in the league we played, against them.

“If they recover the ball they are not going to give it to you in any single moment. Under press they will keep playing. You can press but you need to be physically and tactically ready to press.”

Corberan is a coach that thrives on detail. He views classroom tactical sessions as important as drills with the ball and Albion players study the opposition to the nth degree – points to trigger the press, shapes that the opposition may operate in, and much, much beyond.

But the Spaniard admitted that preparation for Blackburn is much more of a mystery.

“The biggest challenge to be physically ready to press or tactically ready to press? You don’t know positions, I cannot tell you their positions, they play without positions in attack, it’s difficult to press, to organise the press when the ball moves,” he said. “I cannot tell my wingers you need to press the full-back, because they don’t have full-backs!

“It’s different to other teams, but what they do (some) others are doing. The most similar in another league is Tottenham, a similar team in how they play, Tottenham’s full-backs are never wide, always in inside positions. Out wide is wingers only, and eight players inside, where? Around the pitch, everywhere. You need to know how to press, physically it will be a massive challenge.

“The key with the ball, too, is to protect and manage the ball well.”