Slaven Bilic: There's no room for egos at West Brom

The Baggies host Swansea at The Hawthorns tomorrow with Rekeem Harper – who had a tooth problem – the only player who didn’t train yesterday.

If Harper is available though, it would mean Bilic has a fully-fit squad to choose from for the third game in a row.

But while that is a major positive, it still has its problems with the boss having to disappoint players by leaving them out.

Despite having enjoyed an excellent season so far, Darnell Furlong had to make do with a place on the bench against both Bristol City and Preston North End.

Meanwhile, Kenneth Zohore and Conor Townsend were left out of both match-day squads completely.

Bilic, though, insists all the players have responded in the right way to missing out on a place in the side.

“I spoke to them all, we had a chat,” the head coach said. “That is a sacrifice for the team. There is no place for egos. No. And they have responded really well. We have a good squad. At full-back, for example, we have four really good full-backs available.

“Is it easy to leave somebody out of the squad? Of course, it is not.

“But if you explain in a normal way – they are not happy, they are not delighted. But I would rather be in that position than only having two full-backs to choose from.

“I would rather be in this situation and try to manage them all.

“Everyone, including me – starting with me – has to put the team first, the team goes in front of everybody.”

Swansea enter tomorrow’s game as the only side left in the EFL who are yet to lose away from home.

And Bilic believes there are reasons why some teams can find things easier on the road.

“Swansea are a good team,” the Croatian continued.

“They are very good away, they are unbeaten. Sometimes teams don’t necessarily win but they put in a more composed performance when they play away.

“You are not rushing, you are not forcing things in a negative way.

“You are not passing a through ball if it’s not on and you are not nervous if after 20 minutes you haven’t had two clear cut chances.

“At home you sometimes are, because of the crowd and because of the feeling you have to win.

“That is for me the reason for that.

“It is going to be a tough game for us.

“Swansea can play, they are very confident on the ball.

“But you can also hurt them. On paper it should be a very good game. It should be two teams who are trying to be active rather than reactive.”