West Brom's Daryl Dike focuses on key factor after painful ordeal

Carlos Corberan’s Albion were 1-0 down in a frustrating first half at Stoke that had already dragged deep into stoppage time due to an injury to home defender Ben Wilmot in mid-April

It was to get worse. Dike, who had scored seven times since returning to fitness the previous November, would buckle on the Potters turf with nobody near him. The pain was immediately excruciating. The United States international knew he was in trouble as the physios rushed on.

“To be fair I knew on the pitch immediately what I did and I was like ‘ahhh – that’s a problem’,” Dike recalled to the Express & Star.

“I just made light of the situation, obviously (in reference to a post on social media). Don’t get me wrong I cried and whatever, but in the moment that’s just how I coped sometimes, making light of a situation, making jokes about it.

“I just remember the ball was in the air, I was planting to go sprint and as soon as I did it felt like someone kicked me, I turned around and nobody was there, obviously I felt it hurt and then it didn’t really feel like my calf.

“I didn’t even want to try to stand. It didn’t feel right. I thought I knew what I’d done.”

Dike, then 22, had ruptured his Achilles. One of the more serious injuries in football. It was a third serious injury – though the first non-muscle related – in 14 months at The Hawthorns. There were fears as to how such a powerful striker would be able to recover.

The striker had surgery and spent most of the summer in his homeland, on crutches, surrounded by his family.

“It was good to go back home,” Dike admitted. “I spent most of the entire summer on crutches but it was good, I was able to be with my family, my mum was taking care of me and my dad, my siblings were around.

“It was good to see them, especially because I don’t get to see them that much with them all over in the States. It’s obviously good to have that support group around and people to help you especially when you need it in that time.”

The former Orlando City frontman, a Valerien Ismael signing after the duo had worked together during a loan stint at Barnsley, recently marked two years at The Hawthorns.

But injuries wrecked the striker’s dreams of instant lift-off in the Black Country after a £7million move. His full debut against Peterborough brought a hamstring injury that ended his 2021/22 season, before a thigh tear on the eve of the first home game of 2022/23 ruled him out until that November.

Dike returned strongly after an arduous 2022 and was in the goals as Albion pushed under Corberan – only for nightmare to strike at the Bet365 Stadium.

Dike, though, retains an extraordinary positive mindset despite the best part of 18 months sidelined at Albion.

“In terms of a mindset, I always tell myself that I have an end goal,” Dike said, after netting on his return against Aldershot Town. “I want to continue to be a better player, be in the top leagues, play in the top competitions and just play football at the end of the day.

“I’m still young, even though I’ve had little setbacks here and there, I still have a chance to do that. Thankfully, even with all this time out, I can still come back and do what I want to do and pursue those goals. So that’s what keeps me going, you can’t take that goal away from me.”