Carlos Corberan reveals West Brom trio set to miss QPR clash | OneFootball

Carlos Corberan has provided a fitness update ahead of West Brom's opening fixture against QPR this weekend

Carlos Corberan has confirmed that Jed Wallace, Grady Diangana, and Paddy McNair will miss the start of the season for West Bromwich Albion ahead of their Championship opener against QPR.

The Baggies will begin their campaign with a trip to Loftus Road on Saturday as they look to fight for promotion to the Premier League.

Albion finished fifth in the table last year but missed out on a top-flight return after suffering defeat to Southampton in the play-off semi-finals.

Corberan will be aiming for another top-six finish but it has been a difficult first summer for the club’s new owners.

West Brom have been placed under an EFL-imposed business plan, which has impacted their ability to spend in the transfer market.

West Brom injury issues ahead of QPR clash

Corberan has confirmed that Wallace has picked up an injury issue and that he will miss the first couple of weeks of the new season.

The Spaniard has also revealed that McNair and Diangana will not be fit enough for Saturday’s fixture, with their pre-season only effectively getting underway now.

"Grady is going to start a pre-season with the group,” said Corberan, via Birmingham Live.

“He couldn't complete the pre-season before now, so he'll start today with the group.

“Wallace felt something in the calves, before we played last weekend.

“It's between two to three weeks, now we are one week from when he had the injury, so he's one or two weeks away from coming back to the group.

"McNair started pre-season late, and he finished the season without the play-offs, so he had a more extended period off.

“When he started to work he felt something in the knee which made him stop. Similar to Grady, he will start 'pre-season' today with the group.

“McNair did two trainings with the club before.

“This is the situation.

"There are going to be players who don't make a normal pre-season.

“With Grady, he was playing until we played in the play-offs, and he had a call with his country in the middle of last season.

“We are not in the same level with Paddy, who wasn't playing with his country.

“We can increase the time of Grady, but we need to avoid the risk of re-injury.

“This type of injury, the risk of re-injury is high.

“We had it with Swift last year."

West Brom’s 2024 summer transfer activity

West Brom have been able to make a number of additions to the squad this summer despite the restrictions on their spending.

Torbjorn Heggem, Gianluca Frabotta, Devante Cole, Ousmane Diakaté, and Joe Wildsmith have all joined on a permanent basis.

Paddy McNair and Lewis Dobbin have also signed for the Baggies on loan from San Diego FC and Aston Villa.

Albion will have until 30 August to finalise any remaining transfers before the market shuts for the remainder of the calendar year.

Injury blows this early in the season will hurt West Brom

Losing someone like Wallace for any length of time is a blow for West Brom, even if he may only miss the opening couple of games.

A fitness issue at the start of the campaign is a concern, especially with Diangana and McNair both not being up to speed yet in terms of match fitness.

Missing pre-season can have a knock-on effect and hurt the overall campaign, as catching up on match fitness from behind can be a struggle.