Carlos Corberan shares worrying Nathaniel Chalobah injury update after West Brom win
West Brom midfielder Nathaniel Chalobah was impressing when he was struck down with what is threatening to be the latest in a long line of Albion injuries
If West Brom are going to prove successful in their quest to return to the Premier League at the second time of asking, then Carlos Corberan isn't going to be allowed to do it the straightforward way. Having secured their second away win in the space of four days at Blackpool on Tuesday evening, Albion suffered ANOTHER potentially serious injury.
Midfielder Nathaniel Chalobah hobbled off before half time after landing awkwardly on his ankle when defending a corner at the near post, and he is now expected to become the eighth name on an ever growing list of injured players - many of them key performers - who are absent just when Albion could really do with them.
Chalobah left the field in the 39th minute with Albion a goal to the good against the Tangerines thanks to Brandon Thomas-Asante's deft touch, and they sealed the victory at Bloomfield Road through his replacement, Taylor Gardner-Hickman, who finished off an excellent move in the second half. Albion, though, are in the midst of a full-blown injury crisis having lost Daryl Dike on Saturday for at least the next six months.
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"He was jumping, and when he touched the ground - not like Dike, whose was the Achilles - it looks like the ligament of the ankle," Corberan confirmed. "We don't know how serious it is, on Wednesday we're going to have a scan and we'll know more, but it's going to be difficult.
"It was another injury which happened by accident in the game. Today, for me, I was watching a Chalobah who was very sharp, with one level of agility in his action to impact the game. I was enjoying watching him.
"Unfortunately we lost him and it doesn't look like an easy injury. It's going to be another important one. That's why now it makes even more important the recovery of Okay, because we know for us to play with a positional midfielder is key, but I have to give Gardner a lot of credit - today [after Chalobah substitution] Molumby played more as the positional midfielder and Gardner was having more freedom.
"The mental and physical challenge for the rest of the season increases a lot because we know that the next games we aren't going to have a lot of time to recover for and we are not going to recover many players."
Chalobah has taken a little time to settle into his new surroundings. Having made a positive impression on his debut, the midfielder - who had played a matter of Premier League minutes for Fulham in the first half of the season - struggled in the weeks following, but all the while he has been getting minutes under his belt.
At Blackpool, the near 40 minutes Chalobah was on the pitch was arguably as promising as we've seen from him since his arrival.
"Every game he has been growing, since the first one when he adapted and he used the minutes well to grow," Corberan added. "He needed to recover the level of confidence, which every player when they go a long time without playing doesn't have.
"The specific condition in football, too - Chalobah hasn't played a lot of football for close to one year, especially the last six months before he arrived at this club. When he doesn't have the minutes, you can never reach the level of demand. He used very well the minutes to grow and to show the reason why we brought him to the club."