West Brom's detailed plan for Daryl Dike as he finally closes in on injury return
Daryl Dike hasn't played for West Brom since February because of injury but he is close to a return
by Joseph Chapman, https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/authors/joseph-chapman/ · Birmingham LiveIt's been exactly eight months since those gut-wrenching scenes at Portman Road when Daryl Dike faced up to another sustained period on the sidelines and another recovery challenge, but finally the centre forward is nearing an appropriate level of fitness again.
West Bromwich Albion have comfortably been without Dike more often than they've been able to call on him since he joined in January 2022. The American has endured a luckless run of injury problems which have ravaged his two-and-a-half years at The Hawthorns and restricted him to just 32 appearances. The most recent of those was at Ipswich Town, in a 2-2 draw, back in February.
On that day, Dike left the field on the back of a golf buggy, clearly emotional and not requiring a doctor to know he'd sustained another serious setback so soon after spending months overcoming his previous blow when rupturing his right Achilles tendon, in April 2023 at Stoke City.
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Now, with his left Achilles tendon having healed, Dike is back on the grass and joining in group training sessions, namely with the Albion under 21s; the club have a very clear plan in mind, wary of Dike's record and the need for the final stages of his rehabilitation to be handled carefully.
Carlos Corberan, the Albion boss, has revealed that Dike will be getting a run-out for the club's under 21s in the very near future, once he has finally returned to full training with the first team. Then, the US international, who is now 24, can contemplate the prospect of returning to a Championship match-day squad and easing the workload of Josh Maja.
"He is now training with a team, but with the under 21s, so his first step to come back...we have been specific, individual physical work, and then technical and tactical, but when we have moved to the collective training drills, the first step the medical staff wanted to do was with the under 21s," Corberan explained.
"Then, he has done analytical drills with us, but not game situation. They will come in the international break. Before he plays with us, he will play with the under 21s, one or two games. That is the plan we have in mind. He is now make game situation drills with the under 21s, analytical drills with the first team and technical and tactical drills individually.
"In the international break, before he plays for the under 21s, he must complete collective training with the first team. Before he can play with the first team, he must do at least one game with the B team."