Norwich v WBA - Lewis Cox match preview
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00:00Baggies fans, club football, championship football, Albion football is back in a glorious
00:07weather as the sun had crept away but it's just re-emerged at the Albion training ground.
00:13We're back in familiar settings as you can see. This is my second take of this video
00:17because I just got pretty far through it and Mason Holgate walked past me so you really
00:22want to be chatting about team news and the like. Subject matters from today's presser
00:27as one of the first team defenders strolled past, within close of the shot really. Second
00:33take so I can't promise it'll be as good as the first. Not sure I've got the first
00:37one either but there we go. No shortage of subject matter from today's press conference
00:42with Tony Mowbray. Great to see him again as ever. So fascinating to be in his company
00:47to be honest. As Albion get ready for the running and they start that, the final eight
00:52games now starts at Norwich at Carroll Road on Saturday. The Canaries down in 13th, not
00:59where you'd imagine they'd have been really at the start of the season but not an easy
01:04task nonetheless going to Norwich. Seems never to be really does it? I'll start with some
01:09team news from today's presser. Some mixed really, some good, some not so. The good news
01:15really is that Callum Stiles, Albion's left back who missed hungry duty due to a little
01:19calf problem. Sorry ignore the gate beeping in the background there. Stiles missed hungry
01:26duty sorry with a little muscle issue and that was a shame for him because he deserved
01:30that recall but he has trained today. Albion are hopeful that he'll be available for Saturday
01:36which is obviously good news for Stiles but good news for Albion as well. He's been such
01:41a model of consistency really hasn't he Stiles since breaking through and good news to hear
01:45that's not a lengthy setback or anything. All manner of interesting debates for head
01:50coach Tony Mulgrew to mull over and weigh up over the next day or two really. It must
01:55be a nightmare international football for club managers in the Championship or higher.
02:00You've got a few players, you've got Isaac Price, such great rhythm, momentum at the
02:06moment, such great form. You've got Hegum with Norway, obviously Price Northern Ireland.
02:11You've got Grady Deangarne, DR Congo. Those lads played their last game on Tuesday in
02:16some far-flung places actually. Real long flights back, all kinds of hours, times of
02:22the day and night. I've only returned to the club today and some of them doing second day
02:28recovery sessions, not full training. It's only really tomorrow Friday that Tony Mulgrew
02:34will have the group back together and everything to weigh up. He's got to talk to those players
02:38to see where they feel they're at. Some have played two 90 minutes for their country, so
02:42are they fatigued, are they tired? It's a really tough one actually for club managers
02:47and you get reminded of that after international breaks actually. But in terms of availability
02:52and team news, the other ones to mention are of course Albion's trio of long-term absentees.
02:58You've got top scorer Josh Madger, you've got club captain Jed Wallace and of course
03:02Shemi Ajayi, the defender. Wallace and Ajayi have been back in and around some light bits
03:07of training. Just some jogging, some drills, a bit of dribbling, that sort of stuff. The
03:12not-so-good news is Josh Madger isn't there yet. He's not quite ready for that yet and
03:16Tony Mulgrew actually said to us in there, which is a bit of an update really, is that
03:21the likelihood is Madger's return will be if the season's extended. So, play-off action
03:27actually which is a bit later than I'm sure Baggies fans watching this will want to see
03:32and hear. After the first half of the season he had, it's just such a blow really. I think
03:38the original timescale put on Madger was a bit shorter than that but I think that was
03:42probably erring on the side of caution more. As we get out of March and get into April,
03:48he's not quite at the stage yet where he's back out on the grass or anything like that.
03:51We saw him on the way out here actually. He was just leaving and he said he was getting
03:55there and he seemed in a pretty good, smiley mood. But yes, the end of the season isn't
04:01for another five, six weeks as we say into the play-offs. Play-offs is early to mid-May
04:08and it may be that long until Madger's wearing Baggies colours again, which is a shame.
04:16At Tama Bani, I shouldn't forget Tama Bani, he had a lot of knock before the international
04:20break but he's back and done full training and that's another body attacking option available
04:26to Tony Mowbray so that's a good one. But yes, a mixed bill really in terms of fitness
04:30availability and as I mentioned near the top, they've got a tough run of games haven't they
04:37Albin? Five games against teams, I think Norwich in 13th are the lowest of the rivals to come
04:42in the next five games. It's sort of do or die territory isn't it? This run in, Mowbray
04:46there as mentioned, we get five wins needed to almost guarantee 15 points plus a few draws
04:52but I think probably less than 15 points would be enough for Albin to secure that top
04:56six spot but they've got some hard games haven't they? Rivals, Sunderland, Coventry, Bristol
05:01City, huge games ahead. It's do or die time isn't it? It's the period that counts. Lots
05:10to bring you, lots to write up from this presser, I'm about to go and do that now as soon as
05:14possible. Obviously we'll be making the long old trip over to the east of the country to
05:20Norwich. It really is one of the longest ones isn't it? That road that goes on forever
05:24but we'll bring you all the coverage before it and certainly while we're there and after
05:28it as well and all of these games, these not must-win games but this is the time for Albin
05:35where they need to find some sort of consistency don't they? They need to recover from that
05:38last game against Hull, the 1-1 draw, find some back-to-back results finally. Can they
05:42finally win away games? All of these questions to answer and we'll be there to bring you
05:47all the coverage and reaction from it. So stay tuned, ExpressOnStar.com.