No concerns about West Brom midfielder's absence after 'blowing tests away'

Republic of Ireland international Molumby, will not feature in a pre-season fixture as things stand as the midfielder continues to serve the suspension he was hit with last August.

Molumby, who turns 26 last month, was served with a five-match friendly ban and a £16,000 fine after a behind-closed-doors warm-up game against Real Mallorca at Albion's training ground in Walsall last summer, in which he came to blows with counterpart Samu Costa. The clash was streamed online.

As a result he has missed the first two friendlies under new head coach Ryan Mason, against Port Vale and Dynamo Kyiv. The current schedule sees the Baggies face three more warm-up clashes, at League One outfit Blackpool on Saturday, fellow third-tier side Lincoln on July 26 before a contest with Rayo Vallecano of Spain at The Hawthorns on August 2.

Molumby will miss out on the match sharpness gained from friendlies. Boss Mason was spotted speaking with the midfielder prior to the friendly against Kyiv in Austria, but at half-time the Irishman cut a relaxed figure among his team-mates.

Asked about the challenges of preparing a first-team regular with no friendly involvement, Albion's director of medical Tony Strudwick said: "When we had the in-house game against Port Vale we worked with Jayson and replicated what we would do in that 45 minutes.

"So there are ways around it. Obviously it is all about getting players in a rhythm and that is why we have the pre-season fixtures."

Energetic midfielder Molumby is known for his relentless running ability and, Strudwick revealed, he led from the front in Albion's physical testing upon the players' return for pre-season.

Kicking his heels during the friendlies has been a frustration, but Molumby has used the time to work on other elements of his game.

"Fortunately for Jayson, he's an incredibly fit guy. He came in and blew the running tests away and so on," added Strudwick.

"He's in a good space from that perspective. The other positive for that is there is a lot of football-based work, so getting the eye for the ball, feel for the game. As you could see in Austria, there's a lot of football-based activities.

"I don't anticipate any problems, other than trying to manage Jayson with his frustrations that he can't play."

Molumby started 30 league games last term and appeared in seven more as a substitute but missed a crunch period at the end of the season after a red card at the end of the damaging late defeat at Bristol City in April.