Sam Allardyce a rather straightforward reply when he was asked about West Brom’s fringe players and their potential participation in the coming weeks.
Sam Allardyce said “You can say that they can push for a place, but the truth is they’d be in already if they had a better goal-scoring record. That’s a difficult scenario for me to answer. Do I put them in, and will that improve the performance and will they score a goal? Or do I stick with the players who have been playing so well, and who hopefully can turn it around by scoring a few more goals? It’s a dilemma for me to think about over the next three weeks.”
Albion were beaten by Crystal Palace on Saturday at Selhurst Park which leaves Albion on the brink of relegation with nine matches still to play before the season is out – they begin on the other side of this three-week break, at the beginning of April at Chelsea. Against the Eagles, Allardyce named the same starting XI for the fourth consecutive match; it’s meant that, in the meantime, the likes of Semi Ajayi and Robert Snodgrass have struggled to find their way back into the XI, which has been competing well enough in each game but not picking up the fruits of their efforts.
Yet for Grady Diangana, Karlan Grant and Callum Robinson, you can count on one hand the opportunities they’ve been permitted between them in recent weeks; Diangana appeared as a substitute in the victory over Brighton, while Grant came off the bench late on in the stalemate with Newcastle. Robinson hasn’t been seen since Albion were beaten at the Irishman’s former club Sheffield United at the beginning of February. Now, with Albion’s deficiencies in the final third being spelled out quite plainly – they’ve failed to score in four of their last five matches – might Allardyce be tempted to change things up, refresh the forward line and bring back into the frame those who haven’t been seen too often since the closure of the transfer window?
