John Swift has stamped his mark on this West Brom side in recent weeks, with consistently impressive displays leading to the question: where would they be without him this season?
The Baggies may be about to find out, because Swift appears to have joined the long list of injured players, coming off in the defeat to Birmingham with what Carlos Corberan claims is a calf injury [Birmingham Live, 7 October].
They will now be sweating over his immediate availability, with injuries to both Jeremy Sarmiento and Josh Maja already affecting the team’s attacking depth, and Swift was the man to step up in their absence.
That source of goals has, however, emerged from an unlikely source. Swift’s goal in the midlands derby against Birmingham City took his tally to six for the season, already equalling his total from last year.
In just 11 appearances this season, Swift has racked up 11 goals and one assist, matching his goal tally from 45 games last time out, but the assists still have a way to go to match the nine he got last season.
Across his last five games, Swift has contributed to four goals, with three goals and an assist. Looking even further back, this tally reaches six in his last eight games, with a rich vein of form in front of goal proving vital to the success of Carlos Corberan’s team.
Even in the defeat to Birmingham, Swift managed to stand out as a key performer. His 100% dribble success rate, 35 passes including 100% crossing success and two of three long balls finding their target, as well as winning five of his six duels in 73 minutes of play typified his form and importance to the team. [Sofascore]
The positive for Corberan and his side will be that the injury has come right before a two-week international break, giving Swift some time off to recover and, at best, minimising the number of games he will miss.
Sarmiento and Maja could return in November, while Dike is set to be out until December at the earliest, but due to the nature of his injury, no time frame can be placed on his return.
The Baggies will be holding their breath awaiting news on Swift’s injury but will hope the two-week break can see him return and continue his emergence as a star in this side.
