Chris Brunt admits West Brom ‘nightmare’ following Tom Fellows hook
Chris Brunt has revealed why Tom Fellows was substituted early during West Bromwich Albion’s 3-1 win over Preston North End.
Fellows didn’t reemerge for the second half of New Year’s Day at The Hawthorns as Jed Wallace replaced him but Brunt has confirmed it wasn’t an injury that prompted the change.
Not quite at the races in the first 45 minutes, Fellows was the only starting Albion attacker not to contribute to a goal as the Baggies went into the interval 3-0 up courtesy of a Josh Maja brace and a maiden Callum Styles strike. Wallace, Fellows’ replacement, didn’t do any better as he made an error leading to Preston’s consolation goal, passing the ball straight to Milutin Osmajic.
Based on the performances so far this season, Fellows is one of Albion’s best academy products in recent history but even he can have bad days. Brunt is not one to make excuses for his players but as a former professional himself - a legendary one at that in this part of the world - he knows exactly how tricky the congested fixture schedule can be to deal with.
"Look, Tom's a young boy. He's done really well for us this season and this period of games is a nightmare,” Brunt said during Tuesday’s post-match press conference.
“It's really hard as a player - especially as a young player - to cope with it, particularly that Sheffield United game the other day. I think he just looked a bit leggy in the first half and we tried to freshen it up a bit with Jed. With the game on Saturday, you've got to half consider that too. It was nothing performance related,” Brunt explained.
Fellows needs to be on form in Swansea
Now Albion are back in the Championship top six, they will be desperate to stay there. In order to guarantee that’s the case, the Baggies will have to win away at Swansea City this Saturday so Fellows and his teammates will need to be up to the task.
Having his rest in the second half against Preston should help the 21-year-old’s chances of having a strong showing at Swansea.com Stadium as his legs will be fresher than the likes of Maja, Mikey Johnston and Karlan Grant. Brunt, still expected to be in interim charge for that match, will be hoping to see more from Albion’s number 31.