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West Bromwich Albion's Tom Fellows may just be a ready-made replacement for last season's Celtic loanee Mikey Johnston

West Brom no longer have Mikey Johnston's brilliance to count upon, but rising star Tom Fellows may just provide a ready-made remedy for Carlos Corberan and co.

The Baggies will harbour ambitions of repeating last season's top six finish - perhaps with greater success - after falling short in the Championship play-off semi-finals to eventual winners Southampton.

Doing so will be no straightforward task, although West Brom have given themselves a fighting chance at challenging for promotion for the second season running after signing the likes of Ousmane Diakite, Lewis Dobbin, Paddy McNair and Gianluca Frabotta in their preparation for the 2024/25 Championship campaign, which they started in style after romping to a 3-1 opening day victory at QPR courtesy of Josh Maja's hat-trick heroics.

Last season's successes were in no small part due to flying winger Mikey Johnston, who arrived on loan from Celtic in February and returned seven goals from 20 league matches to fire the side to fifth-place.

Therefore, replacing him will be a crucial call of duty for the Baggies this term, but perhaps they don't need to worry about where that replacement is going to come from.

Mikey Johnston return to West Brom feels like a fading dream

Supporters throughout the width and breadth of the country, from the Premier League all the way down to League Two and beyond all share the experience of a particular common fate - falling in love with a loan player.

It's something which West Brom supporters are familiar with from years gone by, yet they were understandably pining for Johnston to extend his stay at club.

Unfortunately, though, it doesn't feel as though that will be the case with the window approaching its dying embers and Johnston still yet to return.

Upon returning to Celtic, Johnston wrote via his Instagram account: "I wish it could’ve finished differently but still such a happy period of my career.

"An amazing club with such good people. Thank you for everything and to the fans for the unbelievable support you’ve given myself and the team all season."

Tom Fellows can help to fill the Mikey Johnston void at West Brom

West Brom could - and should for that matter - save themselves from splashing the cash or devoting precious time to scouring the networks for a Johnston replacement by simply continuing to hand Fellows a key role in the side, an opportunity which he seized with both hands during the back end of last season.

The young winger grew in confidence and therefore performance as the season went on, providing a fresh, direct and dynamic dimension to the Baggies' attacking play with his one against one ability and pin-point crossing.

Indeed, those attributes were on show for all to see at Loftus Road on the weekend, where Fellows put in a terrific individual display and left R's full-back Kenneth Paal for dead before producing the cross for Maja's second goal of the afternoon.

Having scored three goals and provided a further four assists last season, the general school of thought is that, given his age and continued progression, Fellows' direct output will only improve this term, which is showing early signs of vindication.

The Baggies will need the academy product to be firing on all cylinders regarding his end product in order to compensate for the loss of Johnston, but he could well prove to be an assist machine - just like Sorba Thomas was under Corberan at Huddersfield Town - if their strikers can continue to time their runs, meet his excellent deliveries and put the ball in the back of the net.

He's a real talent, make no mistake about it, and that's exactly why West Brom shouldn't be all that worried about not being able to strike a return for Johnston, as this could be the season where Fellows truly announces himself in the Championship and the Baggies will hope that by doing so, he can net a handsome fee for the club in the years to come.