John Swift discusses dealing with being in unfamiliar position at West Brom
Having a spell of games on the bench isn't something John Swift has been used to in his career.
In his six years at Reading, just 25 of his 162 appearances came from the sidelines.
And at West Brom that has followed a similar trend. Of his 56 outings since arriving in 2022, Swift has come off the bench for just 18 of them.
But in recent weeks he has found himself in that unfamiliar position.
Swift has been out of Albion's starting line-up for the last four consecutive games and the Baggies playmaker has admitted it isn't something he is used to.
But the 28-year-old insists he cannot have many complaints and he will be ready when called upon during Albion's big run-in.
He said: "It’s a supportive group and a tight group. Whoever isn’t selected to play, nobody sulks. There’s only ever encouragement for the lads on the pitch at any given time.
“This spell for me, being on the bench for a few games, it’s the first time I’ve done it for a long time, but it’s the first time I’ve done it in a team which is pushing for promotion.
“You have to be ready when you get the chance and you have to support the players who are playing.
"The way the lads are playing at the moment, there can’t really be too many arguments. We’re winning games and that’s the most important thing.
“Everyone who is on the bench or maybe not even in the squad, all of those lads are training well and pushing the lads who are starting at the moment.”
At points during the campaign Carlos Corberan has found his options limited due to injuries in his Albion squad.
However, in recent weeks the depth has increased with the Albion boss able to bring the likes of Swift and other attacking options on from the bench.
Those options are only going to increase in the coming weeks with the likes of Josh Maja and Matt Phillips working their way back to fitness.
And Swift insists the stronger the squad, the better chance Albion have of achieving their end goal.
He added: "We all want the team to be as strong as possible.
“Everyone knows the ultimate goal is to make it to the play-offs and get promoted to the Premier League. The more players we have available, the more chance there is of that happening.
“The more players we have available, the better the standard of the training will be each and every day too. It pushes everyone on to try and get their spot in the starting XI.
“A few months ago it was a lot easier to get into the starting team because of all the injuries we had.
“With that though comes fatigue and maybe a couple of performances where you’re not at your best, but you’ll still play because of the lack of availability.
“Now though, if you’re not performing then someone else is waiting on the side to help the team and that’s the best thing for the squad.
“The stronger the squad, the more chance we’ve got of getting to the play-offs.
“Hopefully everyone still out injured can be back as quickly as possible to help us."
