Mixed West Brom defensive news in latest injury update with head-scratcher for Southampton clash
Albion boss James Morrison has received mixed defensive availability news as he mulls over a backline quandary for Wednesday's visit of Southampton.
The lowly Baggies have endured a frustrating lack of consistency at the back all season, both when it comes to performance level and fitness status.
Head coach Morrison is giving centre-back Krystian Bielik every chance with a late call on the shoulder injury which forced his half-time withdrawal in Saturday's draw at Sheffield United. It is a long-standing issue the Pole has played through since January.
Albion are, however, boosted by the ahead-of-schedule return of Nat Phillips (thigh) after missing two games. He was forecast for several weeks on the sidelines but has trained twice this week and could be in contention. Chris Mepham (hamstring) is progressing but not ready.
To make matters more complex, makeshift loan centre-back Charlie Taylor is ineligible to face his parent club. Morrison said: "We're assessing Krystian. We're going to try and leave it until the last minute to give him enough time.
"I think you can respect the situation that we're in with the centre-backs. We've got to try and give enough possible time for him and for the team.
"This happened at Derby. He's been playing with it and he's been putting himself up for the team. We've all got to respect that, but we've also got to respect the person who's doing it. Ultimately, he's going out there, so we've got to respect that.
"Obviously Charlie Taylor is ineligible to play. Mepps has continued to work to get back in the squad, so we'll assess him further down the line. There are a few things going on, but we'll just try and focus on the squad."
Albion left-back Callum Styles has one more fixture to avoid a 10th league yellow card of the season and the punishment of a two-game ban.
In doing so he will likely come up against Tom Fellows on the winger's first return to The Hawthorns since his £10million move last summer.
Winger Mikey Johnston has undergone surgery on his broken ankle but no further update was given on a timescale. It is doubtful whether the Irishman will feature again this season.
