West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper Alex Palmer has returned to full training ahead of their Championship game against Stoke City on Saturday, according to reports.
What’s the latest injury news on Palmer?
The Baggies earned a 2-2 draw with QPR at The Hawthorns on Monday and will now turn their attention towards this weekend as they travel to the bet365 Stadium to take on Alex Neil’s Potters.
The Midlands outfit’s shot-stopper has been on the sidelines for almost three months having sustained a serious ankle injury in training and hasn’t featured under Carlos Corberan since January. The Spanish boss has therefore had to rely on Josh Griffiths between the sticks, but a positive update has now emerged on the 26-year-old’s situation which supporters may well be relieved to hear.
As relayed by the Express and Star, Corberan confirmed that Palmer has staged his comeback on the training pitch and hinted that he won’t be far away from putting his gloves back on.
He said: “From the last four days, Palmer is making the normal training with the group. It’s true in a game situation he did not have exposure for a long time and during the international break unfortunately he had to slow more from using this time to help everyone in the recovery and be closer to the first team.
“He couldn’t use it in the way we wanted to use [it]. The games [over Easter] arrived very quickly and he was not able to play the B team game one week ago that was necessary to make him ready to play. But he was able to train normal after that game, and now, of course, arrives to one condition where every day, he is training normally, he starts to be more fit to help the team.”
How good has Palmer been for West Brom?
Palmer has been hailed a “sublime” goalkeeper by journalist Josh Bunting, and we feel it’s great news for Corberan that he’s closing in on a return to action for West Brom.
The 6 foot 3 ace has kept ten clean sheets in 20 senior appearances for the Baggies, ranking him in the 98th percentile for clean sheet percentage compared to goalkeepers at a similar level over the past year. The £10k-p/w tank has also recorded 36 saves from 49 shots on target against and has a save percentage of 77.6%, as per FBRef, which shows how strong he is behind the ball and therefore could have a significant impact being back in his pride of place when able to do so.