Carlos Corberan: Daryl Dike ‘will come back stronger’

The 22-year-old striker ruptured his Achilles tendon in Saturday’s win at Stoke, one of the most serious and potentially complicated setbacks to return from.

The USA international will go under the knife in London on Monday with a top specialist – but could possibly be missing until the turn of 2024 with a third serious injury in just 15 months at The Hawthorns.

“I think he has been the player who has been the most focused to avoid injuries that I have worked with in my career,” Corberan said of the latest blow. “Because we are trying to control every single thing – he is a player who, despite his age, has had two (previous) important injuries and he’s needed time to recover and to avoid it again.

“Unfortunately you are not going to avoid everything and he has had one injury, a significant one, but he’s still young. Fortunately he has a number of years in front of him, and one day he will find the reason why he had this injury – now, we are not going to understand, and for him it’s of course very difficult to accept.

“The day that he comes back to the pitch...sometimes the complicated situations impact us one way and make us feel better and stronger, more aggressive. What he must be focused on now is to recover, but when you come back from injury, come back being a stronger player.”

The striker has already missed a combined seven months of action during his Albion career due to lengthy hamstring and thigh muscle setbacks that wiped out much of his 2022. The powerful frontman has netted a respectable seven times since returning from the latter around the World Cup last winter.

Dike will initially recover post-operation around his Baggies colleagues and with the club’s medical staff before time away in the summer.

“On Monday he starts the recovery process – it’s not easy to recover,” Corberan added. “He will work very hard in the mobility, but his commitment means he will come back a bigger and stronger player – this is my wish for him.”

The powerful striker’s form since being introduced back into regular action prompted a recall to the USA ranks last month.

Albion, meanwhile, are waiting to see how midfielder Okay Yokuslu comes through training while assessing a niggling ankle concern ahead of Sunday’s pivotal Hawthorns clash with play-off rivals Sunderland.

Defender Kyle Bartley (hamstring) could make his return in Albion’s game in hand at Sheffield United next Wednesday.