Carlos Corberan has admitted that he has a little regret for not utilising West Bromwich Albion striker Devante Cole a little more up to now. Cole joined the club on a free transfer in the summer to complement the centre forward options of Josh Maja and the returning Daryl Dike, who ought to be available to Corberan in the coming weeks.
Cole, 29, scored 18 goals for League One Barnsley last season and 16 goals the campaign prior to that, but he hasn’t made a league appearance for Albion since a cameo run-out at Queens Park Rangers on the opening game of the season. Cole also featured in the EFL Cup defeat to Fleetwood Town, in which he set up Mo Faal’s opening goal.
Since, the only minutes he has been exposed to have been in the club’s under 21s; Cole scored twice in the rout over Stoke City and also appeared against Chelsea under 21s. Since, he has been in but mostly out of the match-day squad and was absent again at Oxford United on Saturday.
The Spaniard acknowledges that he should have given Cole more playing time earlier, rather than depending on natural wingers to cover for Maja when he leaves, at a time when Dike is still out and Corberan is aware of the necessity to preserve Maja’s energy as much as possible during a testing program. “We have Cole as another specific striker and he can play with Maja too, but it’s true that in the decisions I am making he has been more times not involved with the team than involved,” he stated to BBC WM. “Yes, he didn’t make his official debut.
I probably regret not using him more because there have been opportunities to do this in the past. Five players won’t be included out of 25 when you have to choose 20 players. They can definitely provide something to the team.”
The deep dive into the lesser spotted fringe players
Albion were busy in the summer, but only a handful of those imports have impacted the starting XI; Uros Racic has come into the side more regularly recently, while Torbjorn Heggem at left-back has been a constant. Mikey Johnston has one start upon his return, so too does Ousmane Diakite. Otherwise, the likes of Cole, Mason Holgate, Paddy McNair, Lewis Dobbin, Gianluca Frabotta and Callum Styles. “When you are part of a team you need to know there are different possibilities,” Corberan says. “You are playing as a starter and you have to work hard to stay as that.
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