Carlos Corberan airs frustration at festive schedule following comfortable win

Carlos Corberan questioned the fairness of West Brom’s Christmas scheduling as he watched his side emerge routine 2-0 victors over Bristol City at The Hawthorns on Sunday.

Mikey Johnston struck in the 34th minute of the Sky Bet Championship clash when he headed in Tom Fellows’ cross and the Republic of Ireland international followed his first goal of the season with another brilliant strike in the 43rd minute.

For West Brom, who have begun a run of five matches in the space of just 14 days between this win and January 4, Derby County await at Pride Park on Boxing Day.

However, Corberan is bemused by the fact that his side were scheduled to play almost 48 hours after the Rams, who were in action at Luton on Friday night.

He said: “Bristol City and us are going to be the teams who suffer in this period.
Teams like Derby are going to play four games in a row – we are going to play five. They have a week for the Thursday game, while we only played on Sunday.

“It is a physical disadvantage. It is madness. Playing against a team at this time of the season who have had two days’ more recovery is unfair.

“We cannot say we aren’t going for results, it’s my responsibility but it’s too much.

“Five games in a row. We shouldn’t have played today, knowing the games coming. We should’ve played Saturday, like the other teams in the Championship.

“We have only three days in between and it will be difficult from the physical perspective. It is what it is.”

It was a significant afternoon for Johnston, who took up the place on the left hand side in the absence of the injured Karlan Grant and made his first significant contribution of the season since joining permanently in the summer from Celtic.

Corberan added: “It’s important for him to score the goal, because it’ll help him to keep growing as a player.

“In some moments, when you know that you are scoring goals the previous year, you have a responsibility. You should be free to go again with this feeling.”

Bristol City boss Liam Manning, who has now seen his side’s winless run extend to four matches ahead of their own congested festive schedule, had no complaints about the result.

The Robins host Luton at Ashton Gate on Boxing Day and Manning has challenged his players to respond.

“The better team definitely won, they were better than us,” he summarised. “We were a little passive at times, caught between pressing and blocking.

“That’s the problem when you disconnect. The space came from counter attacks. When they turned it over they were really quick from their box to our box. We have to be better and I look at myself first and foremost.

“They’re so well organised defensively, it’s a tough place to come. We didn’t get into good areas enough. We ended up getting picked off.

“We need to respond on Boxing Day now. We need to win more games, it’s as simple as that. Ultimately we’re in a results business.

“We have to start winning games, you don’t want to drift and go too many without. If you want to push on you have to get consecutive results and we haven’t done that enough.”