West Brom: Carlos Corberan reveals reason for Josh Maja decision v Coventry City | OneFootball

Carlos Corberan has explained the decision to replace Josh Maja at half-time in West Brom's win over Coventry City.

West Brom boss Carlos Corberan revealed he made the decision to take off top scorer Josh Maja at half-time in the win over Coventry City in order to get more control of the game.

The Baggies went into the clash having won just once in their last 13 games, but they had drawn an incredible ten times in that period.

Nevertheless, it was all about getting three points on the board, and Albion did that thanks to a deflected Alex Mowatt strike and a fine individual effort from Karlan Grant.

Carlos Corberan explains Josh Maja sub in West Brom win

It was by no means a brilliant performance from Corberan’s side, with the Sky Blues controlling the game for large parts, although they only created a few clear chances.

Even though they had the lead at half-time, Corberan had seen enough to make a change, with the Spaniard replacing Maja for John Swift, after the striker had only 11 touches in the opening 45 minutes, and he regularly lost possession.

And, speaking to the Express & Star, the boss explained why he felt that was necessary, as Albion wrestled to try and get the initiative back.

"I think in the first half after we scored the goal we lost the middle of the pitch and didn’t have enough players to give continuity to attacks.

“We were losing balls wide and open for them to counter-attack, and they were creating problems on our left side to defend because they were attacking well on their right side. We didn’t manage it well there. Some aspects of defending gave them the possibility to take crosses, especially from our left side of the team in defence.

"At half time I decided to change Josh Maja because we needed to have one number 10 (John Swift) in my opinion being more as a midfielder than as a striker. Because if you lose control of the ball in the game, you cannot win the games.”

West Brom can build momentum after Coventry City victory

Given Albion’s run, Corberan and the fans won’t care one bit that this wasn’t a brilliant performance, and they will just be delighted to get the win, and to move back into the play-offs.

As well as that, there were some positives to take, even if Albion struggled for inspiration in the final third. They still defended well, and the players worked hard to ensure that Coventry failed to open them up despite their possession.

From Corberan’s perspective, the decision to take Maja off made sense, as he simply wasn’t getting involved in the game, and whilst Swift wasn’t hugely influential, the reasoning behind the change is understandable.

Now, the challenge for Albion is to build on that win when they travel to take on Watford at Vicarage Road this weekend.