West Brom V Aston Villa at The Hawthorns: LIVE

23 January 2016 09:16
West Brom V Aston Villa - view commentary, squad, and statistics of the game live.

Tony Pulis thinks Saido Berahino transfer window "circus" could go the distance

West Brom boss Tony Pulis insists the club have yet to receive a bid for striker Saido Berahino during the January transfer window.

Berahino's future has been uncertain since handing in a transfer request at the start of the season amid several rejected offers from Tottenham.

The rumours reignited when the 22-year-old was left out of the matchday squad at Bristol City for Tuesday night's FA Cup third round replay, before it was confirmed that he was missing through illness.

This week Spurs, along with Chelsea and Newcastle, were reported to have tabled bids but Pulis denied that such an approach had been made.

Pulis expects the speculation surrounding his joint-top goalscorer to continue until the transfer window closes on February 1.

"The present situation is the club has not received any offers at all so everything is speculation and you can't stop people talking," said Pulis.

"I'm more disappointed for Saido. I told him at the beginning of the window the circus starts again. If something happens, something happens and he understands that from the last window."

Berahino has recovered from his bout of illness and will be back in contention against midlands neighbours Aston Villa at The Hawthorns on Saturday.

"He's okay and fit," said Pulis. "He'll be okay for tomorrow. He had a tummy bug - a couple of the lads had it - obviously Rick [Lambert] missed a game from it.

"I couldn't involve him in the cup game which was a shame because I probably would have started him.

"But it's the window again and him on all the back pages. We play Villa in a massive game and we're not talking about the game."

Pulis described his squad as "threadbare" as injuries mount ahead of the derby clash.

Chris Brunt (calf), Jonas Olsson (hamstring) and Darren Fletcher (knee) look to set to miss out on Saturday alongside long-term absentee James Morrison, who will be absent for around two months with a hamstring injury.

Sebastien Pocognoli, who replaced Brunt against Bristol City in midweek when he went off injured, and Victor Anichebe could keep their places in the team as Albion attempt to complete a league double over Villa for the first time in 42 years.

Villa manager Remi Garde has told Micah Richards he will not just walk straight back into the team now he is fit again - despite being captain.

Richards, who was brought back to England in the summer by former boss Tim Sherwood after a season in Italy with Fiorentina, faces a fight to regain his place in the side after Villa earned four points from the two Barclays Premier League matches he was absent.

The 27-year-old was on the bench for the win against Crystal Palace and then the draw with Leicester after sustaining a foot injury at Wycombe in the FA Cup.

Joleon Lescott and Jores Okore were Garde's central defensive pairing for those games and the Frenchman feels he might stick with them against West brom.

Richards returned to the team this week for the replay with Wycombe, starting alongside Ciaran Clark in the middle, but the feeling is Garde will revert back to a defence consisting of Lescott, Okore, Aly Cissokho and Leandro Bacuna.

"This is something have have to consider. It is not an easy situation because Micah used to be the captain of the team for the start of the season," said the Villa boss.

"But then I have to consider as well the last two games we played were very interesting in many aspects. I have to be fair with everybody, with every player in

my team."

Midfielder Carlos Sanchez will undergo a fitness test ahead of the short trip to West Brom.

However, full-back Alan Hutton remains out with a hamstring strain while striker Gabriel Agbonlahor, who has played only one minute of football since Garde took over at the beginning of November, is also likely to be missing again after reporting a new injury problem.

"Gabby trained on the Sunday before we played Wycombe on Tuesday then he got injured with a hip problem on Monday," said Garde. "He is probably not available but I will see."

Source: PAR