Forget Mowatt: "Outstanding" £21k-p/w WBA ace with 38 tackles has been Bruce's rock - opinion

West Bromwich Albion have not had the smoothest of seasons back in the Championship after being relegated from the Premier League last time out.

With 38 league games played, the Baggies have only managed to win 14 of them, drawing 12 and losing a further 12 along the way, highlighting how unpredictable they’ve been throughout the campaign.

Having started the term with Valerien Ismael in charge, the Frenchman only lasted seven months before the club sacked him and brought in Steve Bruce to steady the ship and see out the remainder of the season.

In terms of individual performances, one player that has been a consistent and useful figure for the Baggies across the campaign is defender Matt Clarke.

Signed from Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion on a loan deal back in the previous summer transfer window, the 25-year-old has played in 26 league games for the Baggies, starting all of them.

In those appearances, the centre-back, who is currently picking up a weekly wage of £21k-p/w according to Salary Sport, has racked up a total of 38 tackles, 46 interceptions and 80 clearances, highlighting just how prominent he has been at the back for the Midlands club.

Labelled as “outstanding” by Michael Doyle, the on-loan defender has also managed to have 20 shots at goal, which is more than the likes of Conor Townsend, Adam Reach, Andy Carroll and Jayson Molumby. This shows that he can be a danger to the opposition’s goal as well as protect his own.

His overall performances have earned the Englishman an overall season rating of 6.96 from WhoScored, making him the third-highest rated player in Bruce’s squad, higher than the likes of Townsend, Alex Mowatt and Karlan Grant who have a combined total of 17 league goals and nine