Steve Bruce: Alex Mowatt’s playing through the West Brom pain
The groin injury Alex Mowatt recently underwent surgery for has been troubling the midfielder for months, Albion boss Steve Bruce has revealed.
Snapped up on a free transfer last summer, Mowatt put in a string of impressive display for Albion at the beginning of the campaign.
But like the team in general, his form then dipped as the Baggies slumped down the Championship table.
Last week, Albion announced the 27-year-old was going to undergo surgery for a groin problem – with the operation ruling Mowatt out of the final three games of the campaign.
And Bruce revealed the former Leeds man was struggling with the problem even before he replaced the sacked Valerien Ismael as boss back in February.
“The issue had been niggling away at him for a while,” the Bruce said.
“He’s had injections and all the rest of it.
“You can play with them, and play with them, and play with them but eventually it catches up with you.
“Before I came in he was having injections and I think it’s fair to say the injury caught up with him.
“But he will back for pre-season. And hopefully then we will see him at his best and raring to go.
“It was important we got it (the operation) done.”
Mowatt isn’t expected to have any problems reporting for pre-season duty ahead of the 2022/23 campaign.
The Baggies have pencilled in Thursday, June 23, as their return date.
Bruce is hoping to put his players through their paces at their Walsall training base before then jetting out to the Algarve for a training camp.
Bruce took his Villa and Newcastle teams to Portugal in the past and it’s possible the Baggies will play their first pre-season friendly out there.
The Baggies are expected to face lower league opposition away from The Hawthorns, with talks understood to have taken place with Stevenage and Crewe Alexandra.
Albion will begin their season earlier next year due to the World Cup being staged in November and December for the first time in history.
The EFL have confirmed the 2022/23 campaign will begin on July 30.
The Championship will be paused at match day 16 – which is scheduled for November 12 – two days before the World Cup in Qatar gets under way.
The second tier will then resume on December 10, following the culmination of the World Cup group stages.
