Carlos Corberan: Erik Pieters training like a West Brom teenager
Erik Pieters has been lauded for training like an eager teenager looking to break through by Albion boss Carlos Corberan.
Dutch defender Pieters, a left-back by trade, has been required as an emergency centre-half for his since the resumption of the Championship.
Corberan's side returned from the international break without central defensive duo Kyle Bartley and Semi Ajayi, missing with thigh and shoulder complaints respectively, meaning Pieters, 34, has been required to fill in centrally.
The Hawthorns head coach, who takes his side to Coventry tomorrow looking for a win to lift the Baggies up to eighth and two points from the play-offs, feels Pieters settled into the different role with ease – and talked up the former Stoke and Burnley full-back's attitude to his work each day.
"I think only the first 15 minutes of the previous (Sunderland) game it took some time for him to adapt," said Corberan.
"After these 15 minutes to today he was doing things that I value a lot – with the ball and without the ball.
"Today he was playing with a level of concentration that make him someone different.
"He's one player for me with excellent condition with the ball and with excellent mentality.
"Because he trains like he is only 18 years old, he's 34 with a lot of experience in the Premier League.
"He's an example of someone who is not going to be watching his past, but trying to improve every single training day.
"When you are working with players like him, always the team will grow."
Pieters was a September free agent recruit by former boss Steve Bruce, who initially invited the former Netherlands international to train with the squad while he was without a club in the summer as the pair were neighbours.
Eventually Pieters, praised for his fitness levels despite advancing years, earned himself a one-year contract with defensive availability beginning to bite.
He has already turned in a dozen appearances for the Baggies and has become a dependable option at left-back and now at the heart of defence.
Corberan added of Pieters, who made 225 Premier League appearances for the Potters and Clarets: "Yes experience and not just for the younger players, for himself, for me, for everyone.
"The mentality that he has is really, really professional. He is very self-demanding, I feel like working with a player who is 16 years old."
