“It’s time” – Carlos Corberan urged to recall West Brom favourite for Millwall encounter

West Bromwich Albion will be looking to shift momentum back into their favour after two disappointing results and performances.

Carlos Corberan’s side still hold a very strong position in the early Championship table after a relatively strong start to the campaign.

However, successive defeats to Sheffield Wednesday and Middlesbrough have raised some eyebrows in this quarter of the West Midlands regarding whether Albion can mount a sustained promotion bid over the course of the remaining 38 games.

A handful of changes have been made by the Spaniard in those two encounters, which included Jed Wallace replacing Tom Fellows in the starting 11 on Tuesday night, despite the England U21 international starting the campaign in exceptional individual form.

And, alongside the winger from Longbridge’s restoration, Corberan has been urged to make yet another switch out wide for the upcoming encounter with Millwall at The Hawthorns.

West Brom urged to start Mikey Johnston in upcoming Millwall encounter

That’s according to Football League World’s West Brom fan pundit, Callum Burgess, who has stated that he would like to see Mikey Johnston handed a first start of the season for the Baggies in place of Karlan Grant.

“I think it’s time that Albion started to re-introduce Mikey Johnston to the starting XI,” Burgess told FLW.

“Although he’s looked rusty in his cameo appearances so far, we’ve only had 20 or 30 minutes (in each game) to judge him off. So, it might be easy for the fans to pass opinions that he might not be the player that he was last season.

“We’ll only know if that’s the case when he starts playing an hour to 70 minutes on a regular basis again to get into the swing of things.

“Although Karlan Grant has had a fairly good start to the season, especially with his work off the ball and putting in 110 per cent every week, we saw the spark that Mikey Johnston can provide when he’s on it.

“When he’s starting games for us, if he’s getting back into his mojo, then Albion can have a really decent Championship player.”

West Brom fan pundit highlights Grady Diangana blow for Carlos Corberan

It was revealed by Corberan after the 1-0 loss to Michael Carrick’s side that Grady Diangana had suffered a shoulder issue after being absent from the midweek clash, and the DR Congo international remains a doubt for Saturday’s game.

Burgess stated that he would, in an ideal world, see the 26-year-old restored to the side against Neil Harris’ men, although it seems rather unlikely.

“I would’ve liked to have seen Grady Diangana back in the starting XI over John Swift, as I feel his performances have been dropping off a bit lately,” Callum added.

“But, despite that, Diangana has seemed to have picked up another shoulder injury, which is another blow as many Albion fans would have been looking forward to seeing what he could bring to the team.

“For example, he created our opener against Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday, with movement that only he can produce in this team to set up Fellows who got the cross in (for Josh Maja). While he’s missing, it will be a blow.

“So, the main change this weekend would be that I’d like to see Mikey Johnston starting again. And, of course, Tom Fellows back on the right wing after he was rested in midweek.”

West Bromwich Albion have an abundance of quality in wide areas

The fact that Corberan can interchange numerous high-profile wing players highlights the strength in-depth among this department of his squad.

Of course, to lose the services of Diangana would be a big miss for Corberan, but as our fan pundit explained, the re-introduction of Johnston would give Albion’s side a completely different dynamic against a side who have conceded six goals on their travels so far.

The aforementioned Grant has been performing to a relatively high standard so far after returning from a loan spell with Cardiff City, but West Brom are yet to put any opposition sides to the cleaners on home turf this season, and the £3m summer signing could be integral if they are to record a victory higher than a one-goal margin in B71 for the first time this campaign.

Johnston registered seven goals and two assists in his loan spell last term, with the bulk of those contributions coming in a purple patch between February and March, highlighting his potential ability as one of the deadliest wingers in the division when on-song.

Furthermore, reinstating Fellows on the opposite flank gives the potential for Corberan’s side to cause havoc against Ryan Leonard and Joe Bryan, who have been the Lions’ consistent operators at full-back in the opening eight games, with the 21-year-old accumulating five assists so far.