West Bromwich Albion return to Championship action with two away games coming up, which could work in the favour of Carlos Corberan’s men in their bid to return to winning ways.
The Baggies boast an impressive three wins from their four away clashes of the campaign to date, but will be wary about their form continuing to go awry, with no victories picked up from their last three second-tier contests.
Corberan will hope his troops have enough to overcome Oxford United regardless, as they aim to keep putting points on the board in their mission to successfully jump up to the Premier League.
If they do get there, it will be intriguing to see who will bold enough to adjust to the gigantic leap up in quality, with one former Baggies man going on to struggle in the top flight after being known as a top EFL performer.
Romaine Sawyers' transfer to West Brom
Once on the books at the Hawthorns as an exciting youngster, Romaine Sawyers exited his boyhood club in 2013 in order to make a name for himself elsewhere.
He certainly succeeded with this goal, as Sawyers quickly became known as an entertaining attacking player for the likes of Walsall and Brentford. Both were managed by Dean Smith at the time, as the ex-Aston Villa boss clearly took a shining to the midfielder.
It was his ability to split open defences with wonderful through balls like the one above that caught the eye of his former employers, after Sawyers had tallied up seven assists in Championship action for the Bees during the 2018/19 campaign.
In the end, West Brom splashed out £2.9m on their former youngster to see him return to the Hawthorns in a deal that was a statement by Slaven Bilic and Co about their promotion aspirations.
Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be the most awe-inspiring stint of Sawyers’ career back where it all began, as he struggled to show off his best for the Baggies over two seasons.
Sawyers' return to West Brom
In total, the former West Brom number 19 only mustered up one goal and one assist from 64 first-team appearances situated in the West Midlands, with his time at the club really starting to unravel when promotion to the top flight was secured.
Despite never really actively taking the bull by the horns, Sawyers did still manage to win himself a spot in the PFA Championship Team of the Year for 2020 with his unassuming but sometimes stylish displays, with Bilic spearheading a second place finish from the dug-out.
1. GK – Brice Samba
Nottingham Forest
2. RB – Luke Ayling
Leeds United
3. CB – Ben White
Leeds
4. CB – Liam Cooper
Leeds
5. LB – Joe Byran
Fulham
6. CM – Eberechi Eze
QPR
7. CM – Kalvin Phillips
Leeds
8. CM – Romaine Sawyers
West Brom
9. RW – Aleksandar Mitrovic
Fulham
10. ST – Ollie Watkins
Brentford
11. LW – Said Benrahma
Brentford
As you can see above, Sawyers was in some esteemed company making it into an illustrious TOTY, with the likes of England internationals Ollie Watkins and Ben White making up some components of the team.
Unfortunately, unlike that pair who are now household names in the top-flight, Sawyers would never acclimatise well to the bright lights of the elite league, failing to score and assist from 19 games handed his way.
Sawyers even had to make do with U21 action to get some rare game time, after being frozen out of the first team by Bilic’s replacement, Sam Allardyce.
In the end, his time fizzled out in the Midlands with his contract left to expire two years ago. Right now, Sawyers finds himself without a club having left Cardiff over the summer.
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