West Brom injury update as Steve Bruce prepares for return of duo

The vast majority of Steve Bruce’s West Bromwich Albion squad are in ship shape and slowly building up their fitness levels before their pre-season friendly campaign begins next Monday. Albion have six games pencilled in before their Championship schedule begins at the end of next month and it starts with the Portugal-based friendly against Leyton Orient.

The Albion squad, based in the Portimao region of the Algarve until next Tuesday, are being put through their paces daily in the continental heat and are being closely watched by Bruce and his coaching unit which includes Stephen Clemence, Steve Agnew and James Morrison.

There are around 25 players out in Portugal as part of the group, including four players from the club’s under 23s and new signings Jed Wallace and John Swift, but the only two players who are not currently partaking in everything else that the group are defenders Kyle Bartley and Kean Bryan.

Both players were among a small group of players who the club sent out with Bruce and the medical and fitness team earlier this month, along with goalkeeper Josh Griffiths, strikers Kenneth Zohore and Daryl Dike, midfielders Alex Mowatt and Taylor Gardner-Hickman and defender Conor Townsend as those previously injured got a head start on training.

For the vast majority of that collective, they came through the trip absolutely fine and have been able to seamlessly integrate themselves back into the fold during the first few days of the regular pre-season. For Bartley, and long-term absentee Bryan, the wait will go on a little longer.

“Dike is okay, Mowatt is okay, Bartley not for the first week at least, and Kean Bryan is still a few weeks away from joining in with us,” Bruce explained. “We set up a training camp in