Carlos Corberan, the manager of West Brom, is hopeful that he will have both Josh Maja and John Swift back soon after the Championship schedule resumes after the upcoming international break. Albion have been without Maja since September, when he damaged ankle ligaments at Bristol City, while top scorer Swift has been out since last month with a thigh injury picked up at Birmingham City.

Both Maja and Swift, as well as longer injury absentees Daryl Dike and Adam Reach, have both begun light training and the plan is that they both are able to join in full training at some stage in the next fortnight, following on from the final game of this block down at Southampton on Saturday.

Despite missing key players, Albion has performed admirably. They have won 10 of their previous 14 games since the last international break, and this weekend they will visit St Mary’s, where they are currently tied with the Saints for the play-offs. They’ve done so without a number of key players, so Corberan will welcome the idea of a further boost to his squad in the coming weeks, should everything go to plan.

“The idea is that both recover to training during the international break,” Corberan said. “If they continue to progress at this rate, Maja should be ready before Swift in the first week of the international break, and Swift should be ready for the second week.”

Dike too is making good progress; having been out since April with an Achilles injury suffered in the win at Stoke City, he too has a return on the horizon, although he is a little behind Maja and Swift. Although Dike’s return was previously anticipated in 2024, his recuperation has sped up a bit, and he may be available as early as next month.

“We are sticking to the original plan, but he is working well and you need to manage very well how much time he is on the pitch,” Corberan continued. “He is taking and getting his fitness conditions.” “It means he will one of the options more in the squad, if he keeps progressing well, at the end of December.”