Jonny Drury and Lewis Cox analyse West Brom's 1-1 draw with Stoke City.
Albion were on top early on before Lyndon Gooch's cross evaded Alex Palmer and went in off the woodwork.
The Baggies responded through Brandon Thomas-Asante but despite second half chances they couldn't find a winner.
Albion were on top early on before Lyndon Gooch's cross evaded Alex Palmer and went in off the woodwork.
The Baggies responded through Brandon Thomas-Asante but despite second half chances they couldn't find a winner.
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00:00 Hello, welcome to ExpressAndStart.com. My name is Jonny Dre. I'm here on this overcast
00:13 Sunday afternoon. Albion have drawn 1-1. We're still coming alongside Albion correspondent
00:18 Lewis Cox. I think it's safe to say Albion had the chances to win that on a frustrating
00:23 afternoon. Yeah, frustrating. I think we just had a frustrated head coach in with us there,
00:29 Carlos Corban. I think Albion had plenty of that game to win, didn't they? Probably not
00:41 until 80th minute onwards when they started forcing Jack Bonham in the Stoke goal into
00:46 a serious number of saves. And it was, I think it was seven shots on target. But Corban wasn't
00:51 too overly impressed overall. I don't think he... He didn't say it, but I think he saw
00:55 that as a missed opportunity. And I don't know if he thought his side did enough. He
01:00 wasn't blaming absentees, injuries, you know, we'll get on to Swift. He thought the players
01:05 out there were good enough and should have been good enough to get the result today,
01:09 to get the three points. And I think, you know, home to a struggling side. Stoke have
01:13 obviously got a good squad and they're better than where they are in the league table. But
01:17 yeah, it's a game Albion should have been winning and a bit of an opportunity to put
01:21 a bit of a buffer from Albion down to seventh, isn't it? And close the gap a bit to Leeds
01:25 and Southampton. And I just think Albion squandered that chance a little bit today, didn't they?
01:30 And I mean, don't get me wrong, a one-nil down you take coming back into the game, didn't
01:35 you? But I just thought we needed to see more until about the 75th, 80th minute, to be honest.
01:40 Yeah, it was frustrating. I know Prompt did his sort of name check, Jed Wallace is Albion's
01:45 best attacking player, but also maybe a few subtle digs at the wingers today for their
01:53 lack of part in proceedings. Yeah, he didn't really name drop Dean Garner or Sami Inter,
01:59 the two players that started in the wide positions today. But on a couple of occasions in that
02:04 press conference there, he suggested that the wide players just didn't do enough for
02:06 us. He said Stoke were there to be got at and exposed down the sides. Stoke used a back
02:12 three today, a back five. Their wing backs were, I think, quite advanced and there was
02:16 space there for Albion to get into, to drag the centre-halves out, quality like Grady
02:20 and Sami Inter. And they just, aside from very, very few moments, certainly in the head
02:25 coach's eyes, just did not do enough to help their side win the game. And Corbijn clearly
02:29 thought that those were the two positions today where it was there to be won, Stoke
02:34 were there to be got at and they just didn't do that today, that was pair. As I said at
02:37 the top, key players missing clearly that would make a difference, but still players
02:44 out there that should maybe grasp it and step up. We saw Sami Inter step up at Cardiff,
02:48 didn't we? Obviously Grady's had a few big moments since coming back from his long-term
02:53 injury, but it didn't do enough today and the head coach certainly let us know that
02:57 in there. And I'd imagine he wouldn't have been too pleased behind the scenes with what
03:01 he saw from a certain few. But yeah, a word for Wallace, first stop back from that shoulder
03:05 problem, thought he was excellent. Carlos agreed in there, thought he led the charge,
03:09 thought he was inspirational really, the way he plays. And popped up for me everywhere,
03:14 didn't he? He was a bit of a free-roller, kept changing, but right, left, centre, he
03:17 was Albion's main man today, along with Renato Subbiolis for Cedric Kipley, don't we? You
03:23 just take it as a given, he's a mental player.
03:25 I think I tweeted, you wouldn't even want a half-soaked shoulder charge off Cedric
03:31 Kipley, because you'd go into probably row X or something.
03:35 Second half he just shrugged a striker off.
03:38 A pretty big striker as well.
03:39 Yeah, just like he wasn't there, it was amazing. He's playing right at the top of his game
03:43 at the moment. But yeah, Wallace playing that well today, I thought, first start back after
03:47 injury was a real positive. And knowing Wallace signed and he, for the first few months, looked
03:54 really bright, didn't he? He was in a bit of a run and in a routine, maybe if he can
03:59 get there and maintain it. Fitness-wise, consistency-wise, that'll be a massive plus
04:04 going into the new year, hopefully.
04:05 Just finally, no John Swift in the squad today, obviously he didn't play a part on Tuesday
04:09 and was on a venture up there at Sunderland.
04:14 On a venture at Rotherham.
04:15 On a venture at Rotherham, sorry. Worrying signs again in terms of the injuries or can
04:21 we expect to see him in the festive period?
04:23 Well, Corbijn said to us there day by day, analysing it and I think it probably wasn't
04:30 until Thursday, Friday maybe, return to training after Rotherham that they realised that you're
04:35 still feeling the pain of it really. Obviously, he has been feeling the effects of it, that's
04:39 why he was an unused sub up in Rotherham, he was never likely to get on. He was just
04:44 there as a last resort really, obviously outwing won that game. But yeah, it's a concern, isn't
04:49 it? If you think back to that Blues Friday night game where he got that calf injury,
04:52 he spent the best part of two months out injured and unavailable. So, he came back, what, maybe
04:57 a month ago or was it after the last international break and we were kind of thinking, give it
05:03 a couple of games, we'll get Swift back to where he was before. He was top scorer back
05:06 then, wasn't he? Before his Santes, obviously he scored his seventh for the season today.
05:10 And Swift's had a couple of underwhelming days and you can write them off, can't you,
05:16 that he's been injured for two months. But the fact that, I mean, we've been told today
05:20 he's feeling his hamstring as an effect of the calf problem still being there, putting
05:24 more strain onto another part of his leg. Yeah, that's worrying, I would say. But the
05:31 head coach said we're taking it day by day, seeing how he feels each day, whether he can
05:34 train, how much he can train. So, it wouldn't be the biggest shock if next week at Borough
05:39 he's on the bench or even, dare I say, in the XI. But hopefully he'll be in and around
05:44 it. I mean, if he's out for any prolonged period with this, then what is already an
05:51 attacking crisis becomes a real disaster, really, doesn't it? Let's be honest. Big uncertainties
05:56 in January, obviously, about what can be done recruitment-wise. Carlos has said he wants
05:59 one in, hasn't he, in the attacking department. Will he have to prioritise a winger or a number
06:04 nine? Who knows? But, yes, another attacking availability blow.
06:10 Well, I've scored on this pitch this season, so I think I might take my boots off.
06:14 Last season.
06:15 This season, yeah. Or in the summer. But, yeah, there we go, another injury for Albion
06:19 and worries. But a 1-1 draw here today against Stoke. We'll be chewing over some of the other
06:24 talking points on this week's Baggies broadcast. But final score here at the Hawthorns, Albion
06:29 1, Stoke 1. And for all the rest of you who actually know where to go, Expressenstar.com.