Dugout Discussion

Johnstone absent for West Brom after positive Covid-19 test as Boly returns for Wolves

West Brom goalkeeper Sam Johnstone (£4.5m) misses the Baggies’ first DGW19 fixture following a positive Covid-19 test.

Ahead of the Black Country derby at Molineux, Sam Allardyce explained:

Covid has kept out Sam [Johnstone] and Matt Phillips for us, as well as one or two other Under-23s that would probably have been in the squad.

Grady [Diangana] pulled or tweaked a hamstring, so we had to make a change there.

Asked by BT Sport what he has been trying to fix in training, Allardyce responded:

I’ve tried to fix the fact that we’ve got to stop conceding goals that are avoidable. Our concentration levels sometimes lapse, in split seconds and moments. It only takes the opposition a few seconds to exploit that. That is the focus when we’re out of possession.

In possession, it’s really about trying to get more quality in the final third. Create more chances in open play, which has been extremely difficult for us.

Wolves boss Nuno, speaking in his pre-match press conference on Friday, said of his side’s recent leaky displays:

“We (have) made big mistakes, especially in defence. We must be compact and from there can grow positives. “We have to go back to our main foundation; a clean sheet.”

The Portuguese manager has duly reverted to a tried-and-tested back three. Nuno revealed in the embargoed section of his media offering that Willy Boly (£5.4m) would start for West Brom’s visit.

Boly is joined by Conor Coady (£4.9m) and Romain Saiss (£5.1m), while the Wolves teamsheet suggests that Pedro Neto (£6.0m) will operate at left wing-back.

The winger was a doubt for this afternoon’s kick-off, as was Adama Traoré (£6.1m). The latter also starts the match in a front two alongside Fabio Silva (£5.2m).

“Adama didn’t play the last game, he had a problem. He is better, so he is ready to go. Boly had an injury for some while and [now] he’s good.” – Nuno

Daniel Podence (£5.4m) remains sidelined, along with Jonny (£5.4m) and Marcal (£4.8m).

“Let’s see. We have Adama and Boly coming and joining (training). Let’s see how they are for tomorrow. We still have Daniel out. We have work to do. Jonny, Podence, Marcal are out.” – Nuno speaking on Friday

Wolves XI: Patricio; Saiss, Coady, Boly; Neto, Neves, Dendoncker, Semedo; Moutinho; Fabio Silva, A Traoré.

West Bromwich Albion XI: Button; Gibbs, Bartley, Ajayi, O’Shea; Snodgrass, Livermore, Sawyers; Grosicki, C Robinson, M Pereira.

1,347 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Dele
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Casillia

    HOOOOLLLLDDDDDD!

  2. THFC4LIFE
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Chances of Forster starting over McCarthy? Meslier no show for me

    1. Bubz
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      I can see it happening

      1. THFC4LIFE
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Cheers Bubz

    2. Big boy Bowen
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Doubt it, McCarthy confirmed back in training

    3. In Bale We Trust
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Low chance

    4. DycheDycheBaby
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      99% sure McCarthy will be back in. He trained.

    5. Kane and Ablett
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Hassenhuttl said in the pressa that Forster is his number 1B , McCarthy his number 1 so depends if he’s completely recovered...DGW19 will forever be known as the week when only have the goalkeepers played

  3. Steve The Spud
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    No Meslier to fly out on every corner and flap at it can see dunk getting his head on one

    1. Earwicker
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      How dare you mention that name in a DGW. *reaches for sedatives*

  4. Brosstan
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    No cutthroatne enough

  5. Muchentuchel
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Went into DGW with 13 DGW players because I had planned and built my DGW team since 5 weeks.
    The the fixture changes came and all of a sudden I only had 6 DGW players left.
    Had to hit -8 do get a half decent team then and now my only goalie is out.

    + 40 bench points in the last 2 GWs.

    Is this already enough to quit with all of this sh#t?

    1. JONALDINHO
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Your quitting because you planned to bench boost 5 weeks before the actual gameweek during peak COVID and your keeper gets it?

      1. Muchentuchel
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        I didn't even plan to BB I just built a really great team with perfect dgw fixtures and everytime I make plans on FPL I get fkd.
        I'm boiling with anger this game is complete nonsense.

    2. thegaffer82
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      No, don't quit, just adjust.

      Basically, we now know with hindsight, you're problem is you "planned and built" for 5 weeks.

      No more planning or building. Just play what's in front of your nose in these covid times

      1. Muchentuchel
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        it is just not possible to "play what's in front of your nose" because everything you do will get fkd up right after deadline.

    3. Kane and Ablett
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      If you’re not enjoying it it could be time to quit, but everyone is getting battered recently in this chaos so just suck it up

    4. Baps hunter
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      This us a hobby. Quitters are losers. I lost once half of my team because of preparing, injuries and covid. Focus on climbing the ranks and enjoying good game weeks!

  6. ivantys
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Maupay becoming an option again after this game.

  7. JELLYFISH
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Antonio haul incoming

    1. KEN YA DIG IT
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      THIS

    2. Top Lad Dakes.
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Man I hope so

    3. Kellz86
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Pope masterclass and a 0-1 Burnley.

      It’s West Ham after all

  8. KEN YA DIG IT
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Mccarthy in for Meslier,10 pointer incoming

  9. Pep bites Kun
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Relegation odds for bottom 4?

  10. Top Lad Dakes.
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    My FPL app says Areola not in squad, is that true??? Can’t see anything else saying it?

    1. Flair
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      It's apparently on the live Reddit feed but can't see it

      1. Flair
        • 3 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        *FPL

    2. Hooky
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Let's nip this one in the bud

      1. Top Lad Dakes.
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        ?? I’m just saying what I see. I hope it’s not true as I have him

    3. Brosstan
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Squads arent out yet..

  11. It’s gonna Ben Mee
    • 10 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Where tf is Meslier? BB wasted

    1. CAPA
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Same, where is he?

      1. It’s gonna Ben Mee
        • 10 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Covid I guess. What a ducking lottery FPL is

      2. Don Van Vliet
        • 10 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        You'd have to assume Bielsa is giving him a rest against a pretty goal-shy Brighton. That, or it's Johnny Hallyday's birthday.

        1. CAPA
          • 5 Years
          3 years, 2 months ago

          He just had a rest in fa cup and Casilla was awful

  12. Bilbao Baggins
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Button auto sub anyone. Little victories..

    1. Pep bites Kun
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      hehe congrats!

  13. Salalalalah
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Taylor not even on bench, doubt he will start next game

  14. HonestBlatter
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Meslier covid?

  15. Hooky
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Walton in for Meslier. Need a Sanchez red card after about 5 mins please

  16. Top Lad Dakes.
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Antonio Soucek Coufal Pieters Bamford Dallas let’s goooo

    1. diesel001
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Damn. Burnley and Brighton wins could screw you hard.

      1. Fpl stress
        • 6 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Should hedge his bets and place Brighton and burley to win on an ACCA

  17. BenDavies
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Christopher Wood, it's your time to shine.

    1. S.Kuqi
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Even one jammy assist would be more than fine in next two games

  18. F_Ivanovic
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Dunk TC lets go!

  19. ClassiX
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Help me out here. Why is testing positive for Covid somehow treated as more sensitive information, as compared to picking up an injury?

    1. Pep bites Kun
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Good point - it's medical and they're both protected under GDPR. Bad point - is a team legally or otherwise obliged to divulge player conditions? I don't know, but they do sometimes

      1. ClassiX
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        It feels like there is some sort of stigma attached to getting Covid, but honestly it's no different to catching flu - you can take all the precautions and still get it. The managers often say "He is not available, he is a little bit sick", but if a player has Covid then crickets...

        1. Pep bites Kun
          • 7 Years
          3 years, 2 months ago

          Is there an FA/TV ruling that prohibits teams from divulging covid 'sickness' as games may have to be rescheduled?

    2. Carefree Crew
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Guessing the players have a right to privacy regarding their personal health details.

      Muscle injuries / impact injuries have obviously always been openly discussed. Maybe a legal issue to disclose if someone has a virus. Again I'm guessing mate.

      1. ClassiX
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Thanks - that's why i was asking - see my comment above - managers often talk about players' health and or conditioning...

  20. Balls of Steel
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Just looking at Leeds v Brighton fixture up next and since 2010 Leeds have only managed to win 2 of their past 13 premier league fixtures against the Seagulls...doesn't bode well for us Bamford owners!!

    1. thegaffer82
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      I don't pay any mind whatsoever to these kind of stats (interesting as they are).

      Leeds is a different beast nowadays under Bielsa

      1. Balls of Steel
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        My thoughts also, Bielsa has transformed them into a gungho style team with a positive goal getting mentality..

    2. diesel001
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Brighton have been better than Leeds for all of that period tbf. You would expect Brighton to have a better record.

    3. WE GO FOR IT
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      What's the record under Bielsa though?

    4. Goodricke
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Leeds have never played Brighton in the Premier league

    5. Revival
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Wrong as this is the first top-flight clash between Leeds and Brighton since 1982!

      1. Balls of Steel
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        I stand corrected...just overall past 13 fixtures then!

  21. Big boy Bowen
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Well, what a start to the gameweek

  22. JONALDINHO
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Pereira TC success. Boly haul too. Good week so far

    1. Paqueta Rice
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Not in your team linked ?

    2. Corgz Dark side of the Loon
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      You dont have either in your team.........sad

  23. Silecro
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Leeds - Brighton 1:0 (Bamford Goal, Dallas assist)
    West Ham - Burnley 1:0 (Soucek goal, Coufal assist)

    1. Steve The Spud
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      This would be lovely

    2. El Presidente
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      I'll take that..

    3. S.Kuqi
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      And wood equalising in over time

  24. Brosstan
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Fingers crossed big Chris Wood hauls against WHU

  25. tambourineman
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Bielsa's long and vigorous defence of Casilla in his press conference makes more sense now. Shame I didn't pick up the hint.

  26. Fudgy
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Why do I own Chris wood

    1. It’s gonna Ben Mee
      • 10 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Masochist? /Fellow owner

    2. KEN YA DIG IT
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      You are a casual,thats why

  27. The Yorkshire Pirlo
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Everyone stick a load on a Brighton goal, no chance we keep a cleanie with that piece of s*** between the sticks

    1. BenDavies
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      lol

    2. Steve Chance
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      I've seen the Twitter response. Is he really that bad?

      1. The Yorkshire Pirlo
        • 7 Years
        3 years, 2 months ago

        Terrible. He cost us promotion year 1 of Bielsa.

        He flaps at everything, most things go straight through him as we saw at Crawley. He lost us so many points

  28. pavlev
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    I have a key question: anyone any idea why the fixtures are in the wrong order for double gameweek players?? (but weirdly only on the fantasy, not on the draft)

    1. Danno - Emre Canada
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Haha I was thinking that but didn’t want to ask as people may think I have nothing else to do today, which....

    2. Carefree Crew
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      Guessing it could be a programming thing? If the DGWs were added after the original fixtures, they couldn't be bothered to reverse it?

  29. Make United Great Again
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    West Ham 1-0

    Soucek goal + Coufal assist.

    Cheers.

    1. BenDavies
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      that but a chris wood goal also

    2. Danno - Emre Canada
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      I’ll take that all day

    3. diesel001
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      That so many people want this to happen (me included) suggests that it will probably go the other way.

    4. KEN YA DIG IT
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      hopefully the fpl gods are listening

    5. thegaffer82
      • 12 Years
      3 years, 2 months ago

      You can be greedier than that, much greedier

  30. Ze_Austin
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 2 months ago

    Two hilariously desperate penalty claims from Wolves in a row