Carlos Corberan urged to take no West Brom action for Oxford United

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk’ series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

West Bromwich Albion will be looking to return from the international break with a victory this weekend, as Carlos Corberan takes his side to Oxford United.

After starting the season so strongly, Albion are without a win in their last three outings, with a stalemate against Millwall last time out following defeats to Middlesbrough and Sheffield Wednesday.

While the goals have started to dry up for the Black Country outfit, there will be every hope that a trip to the Kassam Stadium can see them return to the form that saw them pick up 16 points from the first 18 available during 24/25.

With that in mind, we spoke to Football League World’s resident Albion fan Callum Burgess to see what changes he might make to the team ahead of the clash with the U’s.

Carlos Corberan urged to name unchanged side ahead of Oxford United encounter

After naming the same starting eleven for the first five matches of the Championship season, Corberan has made some alterations to his lineup in recent weeks, although results haven’t been the better for it.

Victories over QPR, Stoke City, Swansea City and Portsmouth were garnered during the stability that having the same players available brought, while a stalemate with Leeds United earned another valuable point.

Since then, results have begun to tail off, with Grady Diangana earning a first start of the season last time out against Millwall, while Mikey Johnston was preferred over Karlan Grant on the flanks.

While results may not have been favourable of late, Burgess has backed Corberan to stick with the side that drew a blank at The Den, with time needed for things to gel up top.

When asked about any potential changes for the weekend’s game, the Albion fan said: “I think if I was Carlos Corberan I would keep persisting with the starting eleven that started the home fixture with Millwall.

“Despite drawing 0-0 I think there were glimpses that showed that the front four of [Mikey] Johnston, [Grady] Diangana, [Tom] Fellows and [Josh] Maja could perform well.

“In the first half, Diangana, Fellows and Maja combined well to get a chance that saw Fellows pull back to Maja, just inside the box, although unfortunately he hit it over the bar.

“But I think that once that front play together more often on a regular basis, more and more combinations will come as a result of it, and I think it has the potential to be one of the best attacks in the division.”

Carlos Corberan could alter West Bromwich Albion defensive lineup in the weeks to come

The core of the Baggies side that performed admirable during the previous campaign have largely stuck together for the current season, with Celtic loanee Mikey Johnston [pictured] making his move permanent, while defender Torbjorn Heggem has been a regular performer after joining the club from IF Brommapojkarna in Sweden.

While the likes of Callum Styles, Uros Racic and Ousmane Diakite wait in the wings, the Spaniard’s dependency on a familiar faces may have to be altered in the weeks to come, with the squad depth likely to be tested as the fixtures come thick and fast.

After conceding just six goals in their opening nine league games, Albion boast one of the best defensive records in the division, but Burgess is of the mind that a change at the back could be on the cards in the near future.

“Particularly in an away fixture, I think we will keep the height of [Torbjorn] Heggem at left-back, with [Kyle] Bartley and [Semi] Ajayi at centre-back, despite the two looking a bit shaky against Millwall.

“We know that Darnell Furlong will be starting at right-back whenever he is fit, so the other potential changes I could see anytime soon is for Ajayi to come out and Heggem to move back into centre back to play alongside Bartley.

“That would see Callum Styles or Gianluca Frabotta play at left-back, so in that area there is a decision for Carlos to make in due course, but other than that I can’t foresee any other changes being made this weekend.”