West Brom: Ismael must unleash Caleb Taylor after Bryan injury | OneFootball

West Brom were dealt a big injury blow back in September after defender Dara O’Shea suffered a fractured ankle while on international duty with the Republic of Ireland.

Sadly, that has recently been made worse given how Kean Bryan, who was brought into the club as a replacement for O’Shea, has now been ruled out of the remainder of the campaign after picking up a severe knee injury last weekend.

Opportunity knocks

With this major double injury blow in mind, once the current international break ends, it could be the perfect time for Baggies manager Valerien Ismael to give young West Brom defender Caleb Taylor his first taste of Championship action this season after appearing on the substitutes bench on five occasions throughout the campaign.

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Youssouf Mulumbu Chris Brunt

As a product of West Brom’s youth academy, Taylor has made 36 appearances for their U18 side as well as 16 appearances for their U23 team.

During his time with the youth side, Taylor was described as “vocal, focused and leads by example with the way he conducts himself on and off the pitch” by U18 manager Peter Gilbert, which is very impressive for such a young player looking to break into the first team.

Taylor has only made one senior appearance for Ismael’s side which came during the club’s disheartening 6-0 defeat against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup back in August in where he managed to make three clearances, two interceptions and two tackles. He also prevailed in four out of the five duels he was involved in (as per SofaScore), showing his defensive capabilities against a top Premier League side.

85% also demonstrated his composure at the heart of the defence.

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Taking all of this into account, it feels like now would be a good time for the 18-year-old to get his chance to play regularly with the rest of the first team players and get some league minutes under his belt while both Bryan and O’Shea are out injured.

promotion back to the Premier League this season.