James Shan says West Bromwich Albion can cope without Dwight Gayle ahead of Aston Villa playoff second leg

Follow us on Google Discover

The Baggies loanee is suspended after his sending off at Villa Park in the Championship playoff first leg.

West Bromwich Albion manager James Shan has sought to reassure fans in saying that the team is strong enough to cope without the suspended Dwight Gayle as the Baggies gear up for their Championship playoff semi-final second leg against Aston Villa on Tuesday night.

The Newcastle United loanee claimed his 24th goal of the season in Saturday’s first leg against Dean Smith’s charges at Villa Park when he capitalised on a sloppy passing exchange between Jack Grealish and Glenn Whelan to claim the ball, go clear and plant a low left-foot shot just inside Jed Steer’s left post.

However, Villa went on to equalise and then take the lead with two quickfire goals in the second half and, two minutes after being booked by referee Graham Scott for time wasting, Gayle was shown his second yellow card of the game for sliding in late on Steer with just two minutes left of normal time.

Gayle’s suspension sees him miss the second leg at The Hawthorns on Tuesday night and will also rule him out of the final at Wembley, should West Brom get there, because an earlier ban for deceiving an official adds another game.

Nonetheless, Shan is confident that Jay Rodriguez can fill in down the middle, as well as urging on those who get drafted in in Gayle’s absence to become heroes for the Baggies.

“We’ve got Jay who can play centrally and down the middle and he’s a big goal threat as well,” Shan told BBC WM 95.6, as quoted on the BBC Sport website.

“What it does present is that the lads waiting in the wing have an opportunity to perform and be a hero. We’ve got some wonderful attacking options and players and we may have to tweak how we play on the pitch.”

West Brom are unbeaten in their last seven games against Aston Villa at the Hawthorns in all competitions – two wins and five draws – since a 2-1 defeat in the Premier League back in September 2008 (BBC Sport).