West Bromwich Albion might well view this first leg stalemate against Southampton as a missed opportunity on the whole, with the Hawthorns acting as a fortress in the regular Championship season.
Boasting 15 home wins under Carlos Corberan during the bread and butter of league action before the tense playoffs got underway, the Baggies will now have to go to St. Mary's and pick up a result in a clash that will suit Russell Martin's men more back on their own turf.
Only having two shots on target all game will be the troubling statistic from a West Brom perspective, however, knowing that lone centre-forward Brandon Thomas-Asante flopped again on the big occasion.
Brandon Thomas-Asante's performance in numbers
Touch-and-go over whether he'd be kept in his manager's first-team thoughts for the opening playoff tie owing to a recent drop-off in form, Thomas-Asante's struggles as the lone striker were clear for all to see in his anonymous showing against the Saints.
Only amassing 15 touches of the ball, which saw just four accurate passes be played, the likes of Jan Bednarek and Taylor Harwood-Bellis at the back had a routine afternoon in the West Midlands dealing with the ex-Salford City striker who was weak and unassuming in his attacking play.
The best chance of the game would fall to Thomas-Asante's brighter partner up top in Grady Diangana, who was denied by Alex McCarthy instinctively from point-blank range, with the lacklustre 25-year-old only registering one shot in total himself which was blocked.
Birmingham World's Charlie Haffenden dished out a low 4/10 rating to the wasteful attacker consequently, stating that the striker – who has now bagged just two times in his last ten Baggies appearances – 'struggled' throughout.
The out-of-form number 21 could now finally be dropped from Corberan's XI for the second leg to come on the South Coast, therefore, with the Spaniard in the West Brom dug-out scrambling in his mind now as to who can lead the line to spearhead the promotion hopefuls to success on their travels away from Thomas-Asante.
The players that could replace Thomas-Asante
West Brom supporters would have been puzzled with the complete absence of Josh Maja for this goalless first-leg draw, with the injury-prone attacker edging closer to more action after battling back from being stuck in the treatment room recently.
There is a possibility that Corberan throws the ex-Sunderland man in at the deep end for the second clash at St. Mary's on Friday night now, attempting to spring a surprise on Martin's hosts in the process.
Away from this wildcard selection, the Baggies boss could opt to play Jed Wallace in this lone striker spot having got mild success out of the ex-Millwall man playing him here during the regular campaign – the experienced and versatile West Brom man does have six goal contributions when selected here from 12 games.
The adaptable 30-year-old was only afforded an eight-minute cameo against the Saints at the Hawthorns, with only three touches registered, but Corberan wouldn't hesitate to chuck him in from the start in such a crucial contest despite not starting him in the first leg.
Southampton 2-1 West Brom
11th November 2023
Saints 2-0 West Brom
4th October 2020
Saints 1-0 West Brom
21st October 2017
Saints 1-2 West Brom
31st December 2016
Saints 3-0 West Brom
16th January 2016
Glancing at West Brom's record on their travels to St. Mary's in the past, the Baggies will go into the clash as slight underdogs which could result in a tweak from the manager in attack potentially being seen as a masterstroke if it pays off with Andreas Weimann even in contention to start after making up the numbers on the substitutes bench in the home clash.
Aiming to channel the side of December 2016 when they make the long trip to face the Saints this coming Friday, Corberan will hope whatever striker is selected can be a hero on the night.
