West Brom hoping for positive injury news on Kyle Bartley and Semi Ajayi

Carlos Corberan’s side were short of options at centre-half for the comeback victory at Sunderland on Monday night, with the pair both absent through minor setbacks.

The experienced Erik Pieters, a left-back by trade, had to fill in alongside Dara O’Shea with the in-form Bartley struggling with a thigh injury picked up on the recent training camp to Spain and Ajayi having sustained a shoulder problem during training at the weekend.

“Bartley had an injury in the friendly game we played in Spain,” Corberan, whose side have won four matches in a row, explained.

“He felt something in the muscle of the quadricep, in the leg. From this moment he improved but we still need to see whether he can be fit for the next game, or whether we need to wait a little bit more.

“I was thinking to play with Semi in this position because he was fine from the previous (long-term ankle) injury, but he was involved in one accident in training.

“He went to the floor and he suffered a problem with his shoulder. We still had doubts the day before the game, but it was impossible for him to have his normal mobility. It’s not an important injury but we need to wait.”

Winger Grady Diangana was another enforced absentee on Wearside through illness.

Karlan Grant overcame similar to make the matchday squad and Corberan revealed the ‘hard decision’ to leave out Jake Livermore in favour of an extra defender given Albion’s availability issues. “We wanted another centre back on the bench,” the head coach added. “We didn’t play with any pure centre backs, because Pieters is more a full back. I thought it’d be important to have a centre back on the bench.

“It’s true that in the first week of the international break he couldn’t train normally. Now he’s better. It’s a decision the coach has to make, but always it’s a hard decision to leave someone like Livermore out.

“He’s important for the group, he has a lot of commitment and he’s a top professional player.”