Comment: Tony Pulis's infatuation with injured players rings hollow

During his time on the sidelines, the long-serving midfielder has turned into one of his most important players.

“Morrison is a good player in that pocket behind,” gushed Pulis yesterday. “What Morrison does well is joins in and makes you strong but when you get the ball he can get up there and make you a goal.”

They do say absence makes the heart grow fonder – but this is quite a turn-around for a head coach who has been trying to edge Morrison out of his line-up for the past two years.

Giving Pulis the benefit of the doubt, perhaps last season convinced him the experienced schemer offered some all important variety to his team.

A player capable of holding possession in the opposition’s final third for more than three seconds, Morrison’s guile is like gold-dust in a team of functional operators.

He may not be an all-singing, all-dancing goal-scoring machine, but there’s no doubt the Baggies play better with him in the side.

Last season, they won 27 points from the 17 league games he started and just 18 points from the 21 he didn’t. Now in his second decade at the club, he remains as important as ever.

But there is a more likely reason behind Pulis’s new-found infatuation with the Scotland international, and it concerns Morrison’s Achilles.

Albion’s head coach maintains that injuries are stopping him from picking the ‘well-balanced’ team he etched into his mind once the transfer window shut.

“I know my team when everybody is fit,” he said. “It would be a well balanced team.

“It looks that way on paper anyway, you have to test it on the pitch.

“I thought if we can get them all together it would fit really well and then you need to give them five or six games to see if it does. Unfortunately we haven’t had that chance."

But when Morrison has been fit this season he’s been in and out of the line-up. He started against Stoke, dropped to the bench for Brighton, started against West Ham, and dropped to the bench for Arsenal.

There was no consistency, suggesting Pulis, at that stage anyway, wasn’t convinced he was the creative lynchpin to build his team around.

He’s not the only one to grow in stature while being unavailable for selection.

“We’ve lost Dawson now and we haven’t had Burke and it’s frustrating because they would fit (the system),” added Pulis. “When I looked at it when we brought them in (the new players), I had that in my mind and I thought that would be a good balance.

"I’m not moaning. Every other manager has to put up with it and we have to get on with it. But we have been three or four players short of what I want with that balance in the team.”

However, this sudden reliance on three injured players smacks of straw-clutching. And anyway, he has players at his disposal who can do their jobs.

Matt Phillips is a more experienced and proven winger than Burke, Allan Nyom is hardly a useless understudy at right-back and Nacer Chadli could do Morrison’s role behind the striker.

When that was put to Pulis he said: “I would like Chadli (on the left) with Gibbs. I think those two together would be very good - but Chadli could play 10.”

That could be a devastating left flank, but with James McClean and Chris Brunt itching to go, moving Chadli inside hardly leaves the team short.

Pulis says there are ‘four changes’ between that well-balance dream XI and the team that plays against Huddersfield Town today - and he confirmed it would be a different shape to what is served up at the John Smith's Stadium.

Chadli, who is only operating at 60 per cent, and Burke, who is returning from a hamstring injury, are likely to be on the bench while Morrison and Dawson miss out.

Pulis can’t account for injuries, and can’t be held responsible for players performing poorly, but this particular excuse is wearing thin.

Chadli and Burke should be fit by now, and Morrison is expected to return after the international break.

And when there is just one right-back on the treatment table, Pulis will no longer be able to blame injuries.