West Brom v Oxford: Tony Mowbray outlines ‘difficulty’ as he lays down West Brom challenge.
Tony Mowbray’s first month in charge at West Brom has been something of a busy period.
It is a little over four weeks since Mowbray made an emotional return to The Hawthorns – taking over from Carlos Corberan who departed Albion at Christmas.
In his first month, Albion have played six games and Mowbray has had to contend with a January transfer window.
Two of his four game weeks have involved three games in the space of seven days, giving the Albion boss less time than he would have liked on the training field.
That changed this week, with Mowbray and his staff able to have a full run up towards Saturday’s clash with Oxford United.
The lack of consistent time on the training field has presented a problem admits Mowbray, as he tries to put his own stamp on Albion.
However, the full week has come as a welcome bonus following a hectic month.
He explained: “We’re trying to create an identity which has been difficult, because we have had a game every three days – I think we had one Saturday to Saturday, but the others have been three-game weeks. We don’t get a lot of training done, you’re not able to put it all together with the players.
“We’re learning about the players as we go along, not necessarily what they do on the grass but how they react to different situations – on or off the field.
“We’re finding out the individuals, it’s been quite interesting, but there comes a time when you need to know what your best team is.
“We have different types of player, which is good – a winger who works hard, up and down, helping his full-back and also the winger who stands out wide, attacks one-v-one.”
Albion welcome Oxford to The Hawthorns looking to get back to winning ways, following Saturday’s draw at Millwall and a defeat at home to Blackburn last week.
Mowbray will again be without Kyle Bartley as he serves the third of a three game ban, while Jed Wallace is facing a spell on the sidelines with a calf injury.
New signing Tammer Bany is in line for a place on the bench, alongside Daryl Dike, who Mowbray confirmed came through the Millwall trip unscathed.
The sixteenth placed ‘Us’ come to The Hawthorns looking to frustrate Albion, as they did in the reverse fixture at the Kassam Stadium where they grabbed a late equaliser.
And Mowbray believes it will be another day where Albion have to find a way to break a defensive unit down.
He added: “They are competitive and really well organised.
