Tony Pulis rues inability to rest fatigued players
Tony Pulis says he hasn’t had enough depth in his squad during the run-in to rest as many fatigued players as he would have liked.
Albion’s head coach only has 13 senior outfield players fit at the moment but he made four changes for Saturday’s trip to Turf Moor and it appeared to rejuvenate his squad.
After a couple of substitutions, the Baggies finally scored a goal after going nearly nine hours without one.
Pulis gave teenager Sam Field his first start since September and handed Bournemouth loanee Marc Wilson his debut in defence.
James McClean was also reinstated to the team and he put in a man of the match performance on the wing while Darren Fletcher looked far more comfortable in midfield after being left out of the starting line-up for the previous game against Leicester.
Both James Morrison and Nacer Chadli were left out of the starting XI at Turf Moor, and Pulis wishes he had more options to rotate his players.
“I think we've needed to make changes in certain areas but we haven't had the depth maybe to do that,” said Pulis. “Chadli and Morrison have been fantastic for us this season but they're technically gifted players and sometimes they're the ones that need a rest more than anyone else.
“Because they do work harder with the ball and there's nothing more tiring, you can ask any player. You can run up and down the pitch but running with the ball doesn't half make a difference.
“Nacer should have scored four in the Watford and Liverpool games, they're not difficult chances. There’s those thin lines.”
Albion are two points clear in eighth but there is a queue of teams building up behind them getting ready to overtake, and the Baggies have Chelsea and Man City up next.
Earlier this season, owner Guochuan Lai charged Pulis with finishing in the top half but the Baggies boss won't need reminding should Albion fall out of the top 10.
"I'll be really disappointed myself," said Pulis. "I don't think Mr Lai or anybody else would have to add anything to it.
"But we have to put everything in context. If you look at it, we've gone through a season with two strikers and we've needed to freshen it up.
“We’ve sold Saido, which was always going to be the case if we got the right money because Saido’s heart was somewhere else, so all the weight has landed on Salomon and Robson-Kanu and we’ve needed a little bit more than that."
