West Brom boss explains Daryl Dike omission and Adam Armstrong decision

Dike remained an unused substitute during his side's frustrating late 1-0 defeat at Norwich at Carrow Road on Saturday.

The United States international, 24, returned to Albion action on February 15 at Millwall, one of four cameos since his comeback from a latest Achilles rupture and subsequent hamstring injury.

Mowbray said the burly striker's injury hell during his time at The Hawthorns means games of certain tempo are not quite right for Dike at this stage. The head coach turned to fellow striker Will Lankshear, the on-loan Tottenham teenager, from the bench to replace Adam Armstrong with just five minutes to go.

"Every substitution can get questions, that's no issue for me," Mowbray said.

"We thought Lankshear's athleticism and legs was better in that sort of game, because it was a high-intensity football match for us.

"That was the change. I think Daryl has missed nearly two years of football and I'm not sure he could do the running side of this game that Lankshear could do and definitely what Armstrong could do."

Dike has suffered five serious injuries, including one to each Achilles, since he joined Albion for £7million in January 2022.

Since the first of his Achilles injuries, in April 2023, Dike has started just once - in which he only played the first half - against non-league Aldershot. Mowbray has said he anticipates Dike being ready to start games before the season ends.

With top scorer Josh Maja injured until the potential of play-offs should Albion get there, Mowbray has selected on-loan frontman Armstrong in each of the nine fixtures since his dramatic deadline loan from Southampton.

Armstrong has only managed a penalty since his debut goal against Sheffield Wednesday, though, and was on the fringes at times against the Canaries.

Mowbray said: "I'm trying to get him to join in with the team more and I think he did that - I think he got more touches than he'd have had in most games.

"Any team has to create chances for strikers. I don't want him to be a striker who only plays down the middle and tries to get in because he's fast. Defences are very well coached these days, every team is organised. I want him to be a footballer who plays with the team.

"So we asked him to come and play, link and join in and he did that pretty well. They had a lot of men behind the ball, it was difficult to get clear shots away. The way they played is probably a compliment to our team."