Carlos Corberan has challenged Okay Yokuslu to “recover his level” if he is to see out games for West Brom.
The Turkish midfielder, now in his third season at The Hawthorns, has been substituted in all five of Albion’s Championship matches this season. Yokuslu is in line to face Bristol City at Ashton Gate on Saturday [16 September], but Corberan wants to see more from the 29-year-old.
“He wants to recover his level and is working to achieve this because the team needs it. It is very important,” Corberan is quoted as saying by the Express & Star [16 September].
“In football, unfortunately, things are not always perfect. Even me, I will be more creative and impactful in some moments and less so in others.
“The important thing is to see the reaction from the players in the negative moments. This week I saw an important reaction.”
Yokuslu was not the only player namechecked by Corberan when discussing underperforming players, as [Alex] Palmer, [Cedric] Kipre and [Jed] Wallace were all also mentioned.
Corberan has an ability to get more out of his players, which has already been the case with John Swift in the early stages of the campaign.
The Englishman was named among the substitutes against Blackburn Rovers on the opening day of the season, but he has gone on a run of three goals in four matches since then.
That is the type of uplift in performance that Corberan is now hoping to see from Yokuslu in the engine room.
After a somewhat mixed start to the campaign, Corberan knows that Albion could easily find themselves in the play-off mix should he be able to get just a few per cent more out of certain individuals.
Given he has had two weeks on the training ground with Yokuslu and the others, let’s hope that proves the case at Ashton Gate.