Posts Tagged ‘bednar’

Bednar and Reid out of Swansea line up as Baggies reel from FA fine

Roman Bednar and Steven Reid are both injured and will be unavailable for tommorrows crunch trip to Swansea. Bednar who only returned from a 3 match injury break Saturday is now ruled out with a thigh injury and Reid has a groing problem.

Ishmael Miller who only recently returned from a 15 month absense due to injury picked up a hamstring problem during the Blackpool game, however , he has reacted well to the treatment and will be fit to face Swansea. The same is also said for Luke Moore who has made a recovery from illness which forced him out of the squad on Saturday.

Jerome Thomas who is suffering with a hamstring problem will not be ready in time for the trip to Swansea, however, Di Matteo is taking it all in his stride.

“The injury situation doesn’t get better, does it?” joked Di Matteo.

“You have a good weekend and think you’re looking good for the next game – and then you’re not!

“We’ve lost Steven from Saturday with a little groin problem while this morning Roman felt his quad so he won’t be available either.

“Jerome is also still out but Luke is a bit better from his flu while Ishmael, who got a kick to his hamstring, is recovering from his knock.

“But we’ll need to assess Ish.

“He’s been out for a long time and the same applies to Steven.

“Steven hasn’t played a lot of games in a short period for a long, long time. That goes for James Morrison too.

“All three of them are feeling the games because they’re not quite up to the tempo.

“I wish I could start Ish every game but we need to take all of these factors into consideration.”

The both teams have been fined for failing to control their players after a brawl at Home Park during February. The fine was £12,500 for both teams, however, £7,500 has been suspended until June next year. Should either team be charged with the same between now and then they will have to pay the other £7,500 plus suffer the consequences of the further breach.

Bednar out, Miller and Barnes in?

Roman Bednar may well miss the trip to QPR this weekend, however, there is some great news in the fact that Roberto Di Matteo has confirmed Ishmael Miller and Giles Barnes are possible starters for the Loftus Road clash.

Bednar has a groin problem, picked up versus Reading in the cup replay and may be unfit to play. Barnes stepped up his comeback from long-term injury midweek when playing all 90 minutes of the Walsall reserves game. Miller on the other hand played for 70 minutes in the same game, a sure sign that his ankle must now be up to the job.

The returning internationals have all signed back in at the Hawthorns without a glimmer of an injury and Di Matteo had this to say:

“All the internationals will be reporting back tomorrow morning for training,” said the Hawthorns boss.

“Some are back already and some are not depending on where they’ve travelled from.

“Everyone seems to have come through the games fine.

“Roman Bednar is still injured and is doubtful for Saturday.

“Miller and Barnes played in the reserves on Tuesday night and both are in contention for Saturday.

“It’s good news.”

Michael Appleton has spoken of his surprise at Giles Barnes’ comeback from injury, the youngster on joined the Baggies last month and was still recovering from a ruptured Achilles he suffered last summer.

“I think he is ready, from my point of view and what I saw on Tuesday,” said Appleton.

“I was delighted he got 90 minutes. He looked strong at times and I knew he was quick without the ball but I didn’t realise he was that quick with the ball!

“For me he is around about ready for a place on the bench.

“Whether he gets that is a different question and one the head coach has to decide on.

“But I’m sure he will be in our thoughts on Saturday in terms of being on the bench.”

“He has probably surprised the playing staff,” the Baggies’ first-team coach added.

“But the work he has put in behind the scenes with the physios has been second to none and the physio and sports department have been working hard with him.

“They deserve to take a bit of credit because there was a lot of work he needed to do in the gym in terms of rehab and ‘prehab’ work and he did a lot of that before he even got onto the field.

“We are delighted he is at the stage he is now but I don’t think he would have been if he hadn’t done the work previously.

“He is a talented player who has been in the Premier League with Derby and he has played in some big games in the past.

“He has been to two or three clubs and had trial periods and it hasn’t worked out for him.

“Whether those clubs have been prepared to take a chance is another question.

“You would have to ask them.

“From our point of view, we recognised that he needed to do a lot of work before he even tried to kick a ball or get back on the training field or somewhere close to the first team.

“And the lad’s attitude and work rate to do all that before he even started to kick a ball was spot on – and that’s why we took a gamble on him.

“Touch wood he can stay away from injury because, if he can, we’ve got a real player on our hands.”

Injury updates for Bristol game

Roberto Di Matteo is hoping that a few extra days rest will help to get his injured squad back to fitness. Luckily, no further injuries were picked up last night, other wise not only would we be seeing youth’s on the bench, but more than likely playing.

Youssouf Mulumbu has now served his one game suspension and will be back for the televised trip to Ashton Gate.

Bednar’s a possibility, however, not a certainty. The Czech international picked up a back injury and although named on the subs bench, this was just to make the numbers up as he would not have been able to take part even if required, showing how desperately short the Albion currently are.

The Bristol game being put back for TV has given the injured an extra day to recover.

Di Matteo had the following to say:

“Roman has a back problem and wasn’t available to play.

“But playing on Sunday gives everyone an extra day to recover.

“We’ll have Youssouf back from suspension and we’re hoping Roman will be fit too.

Di Matteo has also spoken on the chase for loan signings:

“We are working away but it’s always hard to bring the right players in,”.

Starting line up at Reading – Slory starts.

Simon Cox today returns to his home town club Reading where his career started, he joined the Royals aged nine and worked up through the ranks before making his League Cup debut at Luton in September 2005. He will be so happy that he has been handing a starting position.

Hopes are high with Baggies fans today, especially as the Albion have been quite successful in the FA Cup in recent years, reaching a Wembley semi final most recently.

Pointers for more success include the fact that Reading have not got passed this stage of the cup for 83 years.

Albion have the best away record in the country and are the championships highest scoring team.

The players want the cup run and are hungry for a trophy.

Reading on the other hand have beaten premiership opposition twice, both Liverpool and Burnley have fallen to reading.

Reading have won 4 of their last five games and beat Albion in the last FA Cup meeting between the 2 teams.

Andy Slory gets his full Albion debut, Roberto Di Matteo makes four changes to the victoriuos Scunthorpe team.

The Dutch winger gets the cup-tied Frank Nouble ‘s position.

Gianni Zuiverloon and Abdoulaye Meite come in, with Gonzalo Jara pushed into central midfield and Gabriel Tamas rested.

Youssouf Mulumbu and Robert Koren also meet the bench as Simon Cox comes in to the team.

Youth Sam Mantom, just 18 next Saturday, is handed an early birthday present as he is named among the subs.

Reading (4-5-1): Federici, Griffin, Ingimarsson, Mills, Bertrand, McAnuff, Howard, Karacan, Gunnarson, Kebe, Long. Subs: Hamer, Tabb, Henry, Church, Robson-Kanu, Rasiak, Pearce.

Albion (4-5-1): Carson, Zuiverloon, Meite, Olsson, Mattock, Brunt, Cox, Jara, Dorrans, Slory, Bednar. Subs: Kiely, Koren, Moore, Wood, Tamas, Mulumbu, Mantom.

Ref: C Foy (Merseyside).

Plymouth Albion team sheet

Di Matteo names 4 new faces on the team sheet, the first change for 6 games.

Abdoulaye Meite replaces Jonas Olsson to join Gabriel Tamas in the Baggies defence.

Gonzalo Jara joins Olsson as a sub and Gianni Zuiverloon is recalled at right back.

Marek Cech is replaced by Joe Mattock at left-back.

Simon Cox replaces Robert Koren, who becomes a sub.

17 year old youth team midfielder George Thorne is on the bench.

PLYMOUTH (4-4-2): Stockdale; Duguid, Arnason, R Johnson, Sawyer; Clark, Fletcher, D Johnson, Judge; Mackie, Fallon. Subs: Larrieu (gk), Wright-Phillips, Barker, McNamee, Noone, Summerfield, Cooper.

ALBION (4-5-1): Carson; Zuiverloon, Tamas, Meite, Mattock; Brunt, Cox, Mulumbu, Dorrans, Thomas; Bednar. Subs: Kiely (gk), Jara, Olsson, Koren, Moore, Slory, Thorne.

REFEREE: S Tanner (Somerset).

Derby Albion preview

West Brom travel to Derby looking to build a massive gap between promotion and third spot in the Championship. Albion are likely to still be sore from the Wembley defeat against Derby in the play offs final back in 2007.

Midfielder Robert Koren will be missing, starting his recovery from a hernia operation but he is expected back in training in no more than three weeks. The Slovenian international is unlikely to feature in any action this side of or during the festive season.

Left-back Joe Mattock is now back in training after missing last Saturdays win at Sheffield Wednesday with a foot injury and will now be challenging Marek Cech to regain his place in Roberto Di Matteo’s first eleven, although Cech must be feeling relaxed that his place is safe after playing such a good game.

Jerome Thomas and Filipe Teixeira are both available although the latter will need to regain a place where Thomas may well keep his place having recovered from a tight hamstring in the Yorkshire game last Saturday.

Bednar and Martis are likely to stay on the bench as they have no ill effects from the suspected flu virus they had.

Derby manager Nigel Clough expects to name an unchanged squad for the visit of second placed Albion.

DERBY COUNTY’S Rob Hulse has warned former club West Brom: We don’t fear anyone at home.

The in-form striker, 30, today faces the promotion-chasing Baggies at Pride Park, where Derby have won their last two matches.

Hulse, who has been linked with a January move to Wolves, scored the winner in both games as Derby came from behind to beat Coventry and Reading.

He said: “We are a lot better at home and, on our day, have no one to be scared of in this division.

“We’re under no illusions because it’s a tough game but we will have a good go at them.”

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Sol, Roman, Chris and Jonas

All 4 currently subject to discussion for various reasons:

Sol Campbell has been told that for a release from Notts County he must sign a 5 year gagging order! Now i would like to know, what is so secret now that will be without issue in 5 years? There must be some real dark secrets in Nottingham, just what are they up to?

Roman Bednar is in the news as he is hoped to be returning this coming Saturday for the Watford tie, he is certainly a requirement if the Albion are to make anything of this season and not lose the great head start that they have forged thus far. No criticism is due to young Woods and even Cox, however, Luke Moore has been the brunt of some fans frustration and one can only agree with the sentiment when he is still not producing. Talking of Brunt, Chris is also hoped to be available as fit this coming Saturday too!

Jonas suffered at Coventry from a few irate fans at the end of the game, now fans will get irate and take their frustrations out on players, this will always happen. Olsson was probably not the fairest of targets, however, he was the chosen one on Saturday. Now when a player is paid so much money and has a responsibility to set a decent example to both players and fans of the younger generation, reacting as he did when fans chose to subject him to abuse was very poor and unprofessional.

4-4-1-1 sees a return for Meite and Koren too

Robbie has changed formation and recalled both Koren and Meite in an attempt to turn the tide at the Ricoh this afternoon.

The surprise is Cech dropping to the bench, however, with Meite replacing him.

Lone striker Luke Moore will be supported by Dorrans sitting just off him!

Bednar misses a second game, still unfit from his back injury.

COVENTRY (4-4-2): Westwood, Wright, Cranie, Turner, Aanholt, Clarke, Cork, Osbourne, McIndoe, Eastwood, Morrison. Subs: Dimi, Bell, Hussey, Ward, Madine, Grandison, Cain.

ALBION (4-4-1-1): Carson, Zuiverloon, Meite, Olsson, Mattock, Thomas, Mulumbu, Jara, Koren, Dorrans, Moore. Subs: Kiely, Reid, Teixeira, Cox, Martis, Cech, Wood.

Ref: K Stroud (Hants).

Team Sheet for tonights game.

Albion make just 1 forced change for tonights visit of Swansea, thats Chris Woods in for the injured Roman Bednar.

Scott Carson, Gianni Zuiverloon, Joe Mattock, Jonas Olsson, Gonzalo Jara, Marek Cech, Graham Dorrans, Youssouf Mulumbu, Jerome Thomas, Chris Woods, Luke Moore.

Substitutes: Dean Kiely (GK), Simon Cox, Abdoulaye Meite, Filipe Teixeira, Shelton Martis, Robert Koren, Reuben Reid.

Dorus de Vries; Angel Rangel, Ashley Williams, Alan Tate (C), Marcos Painter; Leon Britton, Darren Pratley, Mark Gower, Cedric van der Gun, Nathan Dyer; Craig Beattie.

Substitutes: David Cornell (GK), Jordi Lopez, Lee Trundle, Joe Allen, Tom Butler, Jazz Richards, Besian Idrizaj.

Ref A D’Urso Essex

Tough night ahead in Italy V Portugal championship fight.

With Swansea boasting one of the meanest defences in the Championship and also the highest scoring up front partnership with 24 goals so far this season, 16th place is camouflaging a decent team. Unbeaten in 5, Swansea will be no pushovers and Albion will need to be on top of their form to get all three points in this game.

Former Italy international Di Matteo will be pitting his wits against his former Portugal counterpart Paulo Sousa and both will be hoping to win the spoils, even though they have no bad blood between them.

Former Albion striker Craig Beattie will no doubt be out to prove a point, he never really made an impact at the Albion, however, will be looking to show what was missed after his £800,000 switch to the liberty stadium recently.

Chris Wood is a likely starter and like Luke Moore will be looking to stake a claim for a regular place and keep the injured Bednar of the team sheet.

Injury boosts and sad news …

Along with news that Roman Bednars injury is not as bad as first feared Albion are reporting other decent news in the injury department.

When carried off very early in to the Reading game on Saturday, Bednar was rushed to hospital in some real pain. This was an obvious worry and could have been very bad news, however, hospital was just a precaution and a simple trapped nerve will most likely see Bednar back in action by the time the Albion travel to the Ricoh Arena this coming Saturday.

James Morrisson has, it is hoped, had a final operation on his heel and should now be able to start his recovery.

Ex Albion favourite David “Davy” Burnside passed away yesterday evening of a suspected heart atack. Davey who managed 42 goals in some 135 appearances for the Albion, joined as an amateur in 1955 and went on to play alongside some Albion greats including Derek Kevan and the late great Sir Bobby Robson. Davey went on to manage the England youth team in later years and remained in football until as recently as 1999.

Albion v Plymouth team news

Simon Cox replaces the injured Luke Moore in attack seeing him get his full debut against Argyle. Ex Swindon striker will partner Roman Bednar up front after Like Moore fails to recover from his ankle injury.

Other injury Brunt also returns to the fray after  he has recovered from a niggling calf injury, this see Jerome Thomas relegated to the bench. Zuiverloon also recovers to return on place of the newly departed Cummings who was just deputising for him anyway.

Robert Koren, back from midweek international duty with Slovenia finds himself on the bench, Graham Dorrans gets his shirt in the central midfield role.

Albion (4-4-2): Carson, Zuiverloon, Martis, Olsson, Mattock, Brunt, Mulumbu, Dorrans, Cech, Bednar, Cox. Subs: Kiely, Koren, Barnett, Wood, Reid, Thomas, Teixeira.

Plymouth (5-3-2): Larrieu, Duguid, Arnason, Fletcher, Johnson, Sawyer, Mackie, Paterson, Summerfield, MacLean, Gow. Subs: Letheren, Timar, Clark, Fallon, Judge, Sheridan, Wright-Phillips.

Ref: G Salisbury (Lancs).