"I was pushing Josh..." West Brom's Carlos Corberan explains Josh Maja omission from Southampton play-off clash

Corberan revealed to the Express & Star afterwards that despite "pushing Josh in every type of situation" he could, he decided the call was to leave last summer's free transfer signing out of the 20-man matchday squad in favour of Andi Weimann, who remained an unused substitute.

Maja has been back training with Albion since early April and played his part in three brief cameos at senior level. The former Sunderland man also made two starts for the under-21s, where he played 60 and 80 minutes in two appearances.

It had been hoped the striker would be able to have an impact in the play-offs and it remains to be seen whether Maja will be included in Friday's second leg at St Mary's with the tie balanced at 0-0.

"I made a decision to involve Andi because after the injury of Maja I have tried in many ways to make him fit and ready," Corberan said.

"We gave him game time in the under-21 games. When you manage one Championship game I never can be thinking about to give minutes to players. I have to be thinking to win the game.

"Unfortunately, I think I did not give to him, or I could not get enough Championship minutes to arrive fit enough to face a team like Southampton.

"When you face Southampton you know you need to do a lot of work in defence. If you have players you need them to be fit mentally and physically for the challenge.

"This game, I decided Andi had arrived in better physical condition than Josh."

Brandon Thomas-Asante, Albion's only recognised available centre-forward, led the line with captain Jed Wallace among the substitutes alongside Weimann.

Corberan explained that, as Albion's place in the play-offs hung in the balance until the final game of the regular campaign, he did not have the opportunity to build up Maja's minutes when there was not an important three points on the line.

"I was pushing Josh in every type of situation I can," the head coach said. "If you were finishing fifth with a five-point difference to the play-off (chasers) you could have managed differently. But we know this now, not before.

"Unfortunately, there were games when I could not give him the minutes to achieve his normal level."

It was this weekend confirmed that Maja's replacement in the 20-man squad Weimann, the January loanee from Bristol City, would be released by the Robins at the end of the season.

Corberan also confirmed afterwards that Kyle Bartley, who was seen clutching his hamstring in the second half but played the full match, was suffering from fatigue rather than any muscle injury.

The head coach said the same resulted in Okay Yokuslu, Mikey Johnston and Conor Townsend requesting to be withdrawn and Darnell Furlong, who played on, also felt fatigue on a sweltering afternoon.