Chalobah one of few plusses at Hawthorns

The midfielder, on loan from Chelsea until January, came on at half-time at The Hawthorns for his first taste of top flight football, after loan spells in the Championshop with Watford, Nottingham Forest and Middlesbrough.

The 19-year-old was booked within 90 seconds of his introduction, but otherwise retained possession well and used the ball purposefully.

Boss Sean Dyche admits he was pondering starting the teenager in the absence of Dean Marney and David Jones, but went with the experience of former Baggies man Steven Reid.

Dyche said: “Nathaniel was definitely a positive.

“He’s a young man earning his spurs, and we wanted him to go and get the ball and play, and he did that.

“We wanted to try and mix the feel with the shape.

“Nathaniel is a young man, and it’s a big game for us.

“I was close to starting him, but wanted to go with that bit of experience.

“The midfield just got lost in the game in the first half though, but all credit to West Brom, I thought they were very good.”

Striker Lukas Jutkiewicz was withdrawn midway through the second half with a knock, and Dyche said of the club’s casualty list: “I don’t think (Juke’s) serious.

“We’ll see with the others, there are no guarantees.

“Jonah got off the pitch quickly last week, so he’s managed to have a good week but not quite made it.

“Marns happened late on Friday in training, so we’ll see if that gets better with time.”

Matt Taylor continues to be troubled by an Achilles problem, while strikers Danny Ings and Sam Vokes will hope to return sooner rather than later.