Carlos Corberan explains surprise West Brom decision after Southampton clash

Although not expected to be a starter, Maja has had several cameos as a substitute recently and was hoped to play his part. But the striker missed the matchday squad entirely, surprisingly not even named on the bench by Corberan as Albion and Saints played out a 0-0 draw at The Hawthorns.

It’s unlikely Maja will have much of a say in West Brom’s play-off fate as a string of injuries have stood in the Nigerian’s way. Corberan wishes things were different but admits a lack of Championship minutes stumped Maja’s chances of beating Andreas Weimann to a place.

“I made the decision to involve Andi because during and after the injury of Maja, I’ve tried in many ways to make him fit and make him ready. I gave him game time in the under-21s games,” Corberan explained during Sunday’s post-match press conference.

“Unfortunately I don’t think he has achieved enough number of Championship minutes to arrive fit enough to face a team like Southampton. You know you need to defend with a lot of work, you need to be fit and ready, mentally and physically for the challenge.

“This game, I have decided Andi Weimann - after analysing in a lot of detail - has arrived in better physical condition than Josh. I was pushing Josh in every type of situation I could push. Unfortunately there were games I did not give minutes to achieve his level,” Corberan continued.

Despite appearing pretty certain Maja wasn’t ready to play in a game of such magnitude, Corberan refused to rule out the striker’s involvement at St Mary’s – or at Wembley if Albion make it.

“I don’t know, we have four days more. Maja has been working strong today, he’ll be working strongly tomorrow,” Corberan said, admitting there’s a chance, but a slim one.