West Brom to assess fitness of trio ahead of Leicester clash
Albion will assess the fitness of Kyle Bartley, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Robert Snodgrass over the coming days as they build-up to their crucial game against Leicester.
Due to the Foxes competing in the semi-finals of the FA Cup this weekend, the Baggies don’t take on Brendan Rodgers’s side until next Thursday.
But head coach Sam Allardyce revealed they will be monitoring the fitness of centre-back Bartley and midfielder Maitland-Niles after they picked up knocks in the win over Southampton on Monday.
The boss also revealed Snodgrass missed the game against the Saints due to undergoing an epidural to help fix a long-standing niggle.
“Robert has had an epidural – it will probably be seven to 10 days before he is back in action,” Allardyce said.
“Kyle Bartley has a slight calf strain.
“Ainsley Maitland-Niles had a kick on the ankle but he managed to finish the Southampton game which is great.
“He wanted to fight and carry on.
“He showed a player that comes on loan can fight and have real affection for the club. Ainsley has shown that to us coming on loan from Arsenal.”
Meanwhile, winger Matt Phillips says all Albion’s players believe they can stay up even though the gap to safety remains eight points with just seven games remaining.
“We have to believe we can do it and there’s no lack of belief in the changing room,” he said. “The players, the management staff have got to keep doing what we’re doing and take the confidence from the wins against Chelsea and Southampton into the next game.
“We knew we had to pick up back-to-back wins – especially with Newcastle picking up points at the weekend, but the win against Southampton keeps us going.
“We have to keep focusing on ourselves and ignore what’s going on around us.
“I think everything has been falling into place for us recently as a team.
“It’d taken us a while and longer than we would’ve wanted but confidence is building and we’ve got to continue.”
