West Brom: Carlos Corberan urged to drop £16.5k-a-week star for Blackburn Rovers match | OneFootball

FLW's Albion fan pundit has lost faith in his side's first-choice centre-back after his recent displays

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

West Bromwich Albion boss Carlos Corberan will take his side to Ewood Park to face Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday night, with the Baggies looking to turn around their recent form.

After coming flying out the blocks with five wins from six to begin the Championship season, Albion are currently without a league win in four as it stands, following Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Oxford United at the Kassam Stadium.

The Black Country outfit failed to make the most of their advantage against the newly-promoted side over the weekend, with Dane Scarlett’s injury-time equaliser seeing two points slip away in the cruelest of fashions.

With the trip to face Rovers giving them no time to dwell on that setback, we put it to Football League World’s Albion fan pundit Callum Burgess to tell us of any changes he may consider for the trip to Lancashire.

Carlos Corberan may consider West Bromwich Albion defensive reshuffle for Blackburn Rovers trip

Albion currently have one of the best defensive records in the second tier to date, with just seven goals conceded from their opening ten matches of the season; a tally bettered only by Sheffield United and Burnley at this point of the Championship campaign.

Five of those goal have come in the last four outings though, which has seen defeats to Sheffield Wednesday and Middlesbrough, as well as a draw against Millwall to add to Saturday’s point against the U’s.

With that in mind, Burgess believes an alteration in the backline could be what is needed to improve his side’s fortunes going forward, with a first-team regular pinpointed as the weak link out of possession.

When asked about the selection for Wednesday, the Albion fan said: “If I was to make one change to the West Bromwich Albion starting eleven for our next game against Blackburn this week, it would be that I would take Semi Ajayi out of the starting eleven for one of the backup left-backs in Callum Styles or Gianluca Frabotta, with Torbjorn Heggem moving into centre-back to partner Kyle Bartley.

“This is because in the past few games, Ajayi has failed to instil me with much confidence, where he has got the energy of a player where you are waiting to see when the next mistake might take place, or the next lapse in concentration.

“Much like in the first half [against Oxford United], where Mark Harris was able to get in on goal thanks to a lapse in concentration from Ajayi, who was unable to deal with a bit of physicality from Harris, and next thing you know, Albion are fortunate not to be punished.”

Semi Ajayi hasn’t instilled trust in West Bromwich Albion fanbase

Ajayi, who is estimated to earn in the region of £16.5k-a-week at WBA, has already made as many starts in the current campaign as he did during the 23/24 season at the Hawthorns, such was his standing in the pecking order behind Cedric Kipre and Kyle Bartley during the previous 12 months.

But with the former departing the club, Corberan has put his faith back into the former Rotherham United man, although his tendency to cough up chances for the opposition could prove to be costly as the season progresses.

Much was made of Heggem’s ability to play in the middle of defence as well as being deployed as a full-back when he joined the club this summer, and with a number of options ready to fill the void on the flanks, Burgess is of the belief that a defensive switch could stabilise the Baggies’ worrying run of form.

He continued: “Albion have probably had one season of good form from Ajayi in the promotion season under Slaven Bilic, but since then, he has been a figure where I have not been consistently impressed with him.

“Last season, we saw Cedric Kipre start the majority of games, and this season I think despite impressing at left-back, a partnership of Heggem and Bartley would do well, or even Mason Holgate might make his debut soon.”