Lewis Cox on Semi Ajayi, Grady Diangana & West Brom's Southampton test
Jonny Drury is joined by Albion reporter Lewis Cox to discuss Carlos Corberan's pre-Southampton press conference.
Lewis talks Semi Ajayi, Grady Diangana, Kyle Bartley and what Corberan has had to say on Friday's home clash.
Lewis talks Semi Ajayi, Grady Diangana, Kyle Bartley and what Corberan has had to say on Friday's home clash.
Transcript
00:00 Hello Baggies fans, welcome to ExpressAndStart.com for this West Bromwich Albion update. My name
00:13 is Jonny Drury. As always, I am with Lewis Cox, who is somewhere near the West Bromwich
00:18 Albion training ground after Carlos Corbran's pre-Southampton press conference. And I'm
00:23 sure there was plenty to talk about, Coxie, and some top topics. What were the main takeaways
00:29 today? What did Carlos have to say?
00:31 Yeah, in terms of the immediate takeaways, Jonny, team news and selection obviously with
00:35 tomorrow night in mind. The headline billing really is the African Cup of Nations duo,
00:40 Shemya J of course, and graded Dean Garner, who are back finally. We're happy to report
00:46 they returned yesterday, returned to the club yesterday at slightly different times and
00:50 will train this afternoon. So set to be put through their paces after, what, best part
00:55 of seven weeks away from the club, I would say? Certainly six. Obviously because of going
01:00 right to the end in the competition, which is probably just Albion's luck, isn't it really?
01:05 In terms of availability, you would say obviously Shemya J reaching the final with Nigeria and
01:10 just losing out there to the hosts Ivory Coast and Great East DR Congo going all the way
01:15 to the third and fourth place playoff both last weekend. Obviously both were given, well,
01:20 with their nations both returned to their countries really to take part in a bit of
01:25 a celebration in terms of with the people, with having gone so far in the competition
01:30 and done so well. So because of that, as Carlos Corbijn said the other night, weren't involved
01:35 the other night against Cardiff. But as I say, both will be put through their paces
01:38 today at the Albion training ground. And seeing what state they're in really, fitness wise,
01:43 I mean, it's an interesting one because you've got a J who played every minute really and
01:48 was influential and Dean Garner on the other side significantly less so. Hardly played,
01:53 his only start was that third and fourth playoff, wasn't it? Which is possibly beneficial to
01:57 Albion actually playing in that one on Saturday. But then Carlos Corbijn was on about how on
02:02 the flip side, Grady was a pretty regular performer for Albion, quite often, selected
02:07 more often than not before he went out. Yet Shemya J less so. So you're sort of saying
02:11 the head coach that it balanced out really in terms of one being a club regular and then
02:16 not for his country and then one not being a club regular and then a regular for his
02:19 country. So that's interesting. And then I suppose Corbijn's got to consider the situation
02:24 in defence. Look, Kyle Bartley's still out. Who's going to partner Cedric Kipra against
02:30 Southampton? One of, if not the division's best sides, most informed sides. Yes, I know
02:36 they lost the other night, but who's going to partner him? Obviously, Eric Peters did
02:39 a fine job the other day, didn't he? I saw something you wrote, Johnny, yesterday about
02:43 just how well the veteran Dutchman did and he deserves all the credit for it. And does
02:48 he get the nod to go again? Possibly. It's a very nimble, agile Southampton front line,
02:54 isn't it? Very quick, sharp. So that'd be a tough one for Peters, maybe. But might Carlos
03:01 stick with him? Maybe. The other options, obviously, are Kyle Uchushulu, isn't it, dropping
03:05 in out of midfield. But do you want to lose him from midfield? I'm not too sure. And then
03:10 obviously Shemmy Ojoie comes into the conversation. And if I was a betting man, and I'll write
03:15 my predicted 11 for the Expression of Style website a little bit later on today for people
03:19 to read, I think I'd start Ojoie. Obviously, it depends what Nicky's in, don't get me wrong.
03:24 But with this game in mind, if they were to switch around and maybe it was Cardiff tomorrow
03:28 night, maybe Peters gets the nod. But I think personally, I'd start Ojoie. Do I think that's
03:34 what Carlos will do? Maybe. So we'll see. The other one I mentioned just there, obviously,
03:39 was Bartley Johnny and a timeframe for him has been given at two to three weeks for his
03:45 absence with that calf injury picked up at Ipswich last weekend. So expected, I would
03:50 say on the tomorrow's Southampton, obviously Friday night, and then in two Friday night's
03:55 times, there's Coventry at home. So maybe Coventry at home will be too soon. Any time
04:01 after that, potentially. Is it Huddersfield the game after that, the following weekend
04:04 away, I believe on a Sunday? Maybe around that time. But obviously, with Shemi back,
04:10 there's a bit less pressure on him to return. So no other new team news. That's where the
04:15 two Afghan boys are. And yeah, a bit of a timeframe on Bartley, at least.
04:19 And what did Cor Brown have to say about Southampton? Obviously, a side that are banging form, but
04:24 sort of hit a bit of a stumbling block on Tuesday night when they suffered a pretty
04:28 heavy defeat to Bristol.
04:29 Yeah. So, I mean, he rightly said, look, 25 game club record, unbeaten run speaks for
04:35 itself. Albin were one of the teams beating in that, weren't they, right near the start
04:38 of it. Probably November, I think, trying to think back to that St Mary's trip. What
04:44 a ride they've been on Russell Martin's side since, albeit, as you say, ended at Ashton
04:48 Gate on Tuesday, didn't it? With a quite emphatic 3-1 defeat, really. And I think, yes, that's
04:54 only one game. And yes, does that make them a wounded animal and one capable of coming
04:58 to the Hawthorns and winning? Of course. But you look back to last Saturday and we were
05:03 talking about it on the way back from Ipswich in the car, weren't we, about how much Huddersfield
05:07 were able to push Southampton and that finished 5-3, didn't it? So conceding three goals there
05:11 against the Terriers, conceding three in midweek. They're obviously a side at the moment, maybe
05:16 there to be got at, there to be scored against. And Carlos Cor Brown didn't ignore that, went
05:22 along with that. Obviously, he said, look, they're a very powerful attacking side and
05:27 they play a certain style. They pass the ball, their possession stats are some of the highest
05:33 among the continent, really. The Europe's top leagues, yes, against lesser championship
05:37 opposition, but that's their game. Do we expect them to come and probably dominate the ball
05:43 at the Hawthorns? Every chance. So, I'll be maybe tailoring their game with that in mind.
05:47 Look, it's a totally different test to the physical nature of Cardiff's powerful frontman
05:52 the other day at the Hawthorns. It's about as chalk and cheese fixtures as you can get.
05:56 So I also asked Carlos at the end, actually, it reminded me a bit, the game with Leeds
06:01 at the end of December, which Albin obviously prevailed 1-0. It felt like a big win at the
06:06 time, didn't it? Against one of the divisions, other big hitters, obviously Leeds, now second
06:11 with Southampton down in third. And I just said, I appreciate their different games,
06:16 different playing styles, all of that. But another one of the big hitters, can you sort
06:20 of, can your players take some confidence, belief really, that you can overcome a big
06:24 boy in the division? Obviously, Ipswich were beating as well, weren't they at home? Leicester
06:29 pushed quite close. Take confidence from that Leeds win. And he did go along with that.
06:32 He said, look, we know the levels because of that Leeds win that we need to reach to
06:36 do it again. And that shows us what we've got to hit. And schedule's tough, isn't it?
06:40 What's it been? Saturday, Tuesday, Friday, and then into next Tuesday as well. But by
06:44 and large, Albin have the bodies, I think, to get through it. We've had some, again,
06:48 we'll bring you this in the coming few hours really on Expressionsstar.com. But we had
06:53 little updates on Josh Madger and Matt Phillips, the long termers, who we've previously said
06:58 Phillips is ahead of schedule. Madger less so, really. That's a tougher one to be ahead
07:02 of schedule from. But they're all aiming to be back before the end of the season, certainly.
07:08 So a month, six weeks, eight weeks down the line, we're having a real conversation about
07:13 those two and hopefully being back in and around it for the run in, which when we get
07:16 there will be a huge boost as well, won't it, Johnny? Let's be honest, there should
07:19 still be about a season, about a month for the season to play and hopefully the playoffs
07:23 too. So a lot to come in that regard. But in terms of the immediate, there are players
07:29 back and available to the head coach, which is very welcome, of course.