West Brom concerned over fitness of key duo ahead of Rotherham United visit

Former Leeds United defender Bartley was missing as the Baggies came from behind to win 2-1 in the north east with a thigh problem while Ajayi picked up a shoulder injury in training.

Left-back Erik Pieters was drafted into the heart of defence alongside Dara O’Shea and head coach Carlos Corberan is unsure if the pair will be available when the Millers travel to the Hawthorns this weekend.

“Bartley had an injury in the friendly game we played in Spain,” Corberan told the Express and Star.

“He felt something in the muscle of the quadricep, in the leg. From this moment he improved but we still need to see whether he can be fit for the next game, or whether we need to wait a little bit more.

“I was thinking to play with Semi in this position because he was fine from the previous [ankle] injury, but he was involved in one accident in training.

“He went to the floor and he suffered a problem with his shoulder. We still had doubts the day before the game, but it was impossible for him to have his normal mobility. It’s not an important injury but we need to wait.”

Rotherham head to West Brom having suffered a 3-1 home defeat to Bristol City on their return to Championship action. With some players – including Grant Hall and Cameron Humphreys – and staff suffering from illness and in some cases Covid ahead of the loss, boss Matt Taylor admitted last weekend that he had considering cancelling training on Monday as a preventative measure.

He commented: “It will be an interesting week as we are contemplating not being in on Monday on the back of the illness. We cannot afford it to spread. We were missing three or four (on Saturday) and a few were feeling a bit under the weather.”