Southampton and West Brom share the same issue and will be hoping for the best : View | OneFootball

Southampton and West Brom are two sides with hopes of achieving the same goal at the end of the season, which is to earn promotion to the Premier League.

Despite a drop-off in form during February, following an unbeaten streak which lasted for 22 Championship games, the Saints still have a chance of landing an automatic promotion spot, while the Baggies' only likely route to promotion is that of the play-offs.

However, due to the quality of Leicester City, Leeds United and Ipswich Town, perhaps the most likely scenario for the Saints come May is that they will be competing in the play-offs alongside the likes of the Baggies.

Unfortunately for both Russell Martin's Saints and Carlos Corberan's Baggies, promotion hopes are not the only thing they have in common, as they share the same issue.

Both clubs have big money signings on their books, who have not been able to feature for their clubs as much as either they or their respective employers would have liked.

In the Saints' case, the player in question is, of course, former Sunderland hot-shot Ross Stewart, who was bought by the Hampshire outfit last summer for a fee of £8m.

However, since his arrival at St Mary's, Stewart has been plagued by injury, and has only been able to register two appearances for Martin's side.

The Baggies face a very similar situation with USA international Daryl Dike, who they signed in January 2022, for a fee reported to be worth north of £7m.

Dike only made two appearances during the 2021/22 campaign after arriving at the Hawthorns midway through the season, and has never been able to enjoy a sustained period of fitness.

The Guardian, the forward will be out of action until the end of 2024, after tearing his left achilles tendon in a clash with Ipswich Town just five games after he returned from a lengthy spell on the sidelines due to a ruptured right achilles tendon.

Southampton and WBA must hope for the best

Sadly for both Martin and Corberan, all they can do is hope that their respective strikers can endure a longer injury-free period the next time they are back to match-fitness.

Due to the injury patterns of both Stewart and Dike, neither club have the option to offload these players, as other clubs are unlikely to be willing to sign a player with an unreliable injury record.

From a business point of view, the Saints will hope that eventually Stewart will come good, reach fitness and start scoring goals for his club as they are, realistically, unable to make a profit from any sale.

The Baggies are in exactly the same situation with Dike, as both clubs have paid handsome fees for a striker who they had hoped to be a real star in the first team, but who has turned out to be injured more often than not.

West Brom worse off than Southampton

Although both clubs are in an undesirable scenario, perhaps the Baggies' situation is somewhat worse than that of the Saints, because at least Martin has Adam Armstrong at his disposal, who is arguably the best striker in the Championship.

The Baggies, meanwhile, do not have anyone among their ranks who is nearly as prolific as Armstrong, so Dike's absence is perhaps more of an issue for Albion than Stewart's time on the sidelines is for the Saints.

However, since his arrival on loan from Celtic in January, Mikey Johnston has already become one of the Baggies' top scorers, and his goal-getting exploits could help fire Corberan's men to promotion.

But no matter what happens this season, both clubs may now regret making their big money signings due to their injury-plagued time in the Championship.

The sad reality for the Saints and the Baggies is that neither Stewart nor Dike appear likely, at this moment in time, to prove that their high transfer fee was worth it.