West Brom manager Slaven Bilic has revealed that Charlie Austin will have a part to play in Saturday's match with Luton Town, but fellow striker Hal Robson-Kanu will miss the trip to Kenilworth Road through injury.
Austin, who joined from Southampton on the final day of the summer transfer window, needed just nine minutes to open his account for the Baggies in their League Cup defeat to Millwall on Tuesday night.
The striker came through 60 minutes of the game at the Hawthorns, and speaking about Austin ahead of the Luton clash, Bilic was quoted by The Express and Star as saying: “Charlie has done really well.
“It was the plan for him to play 45 minutes, maybe 60 (against Millwall).
“He said at half-time he left good and I spoke with him yesterday."
Assessing Austin's performance during the game, Bilic added: “It (Millwall) was a bit of a positive surprise, you don’t lose your touch but you can lose a bit of your touch in matches when you haven’t played for such a long time.
“But he didn’t. I was positively surprised with his touch and his fitness was okay."
Looking at Austin's chances of getting his first league action for the Baggies on Saturday, the Croatian went onto confirm: “We’ll see how he is in tomorrow. You never know in football, but he will definitely participate in the game.
“We’ll have to see if it is from the start or in the second half.”
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One striker who will be absent from the Luton game however is Robson-Kanu, and explaining the Welshman's situation, Bilic said: "Hal missed the game on Tuesday - he has a bit of a back problem.
"It’s nothing serious. A spasm. He is going to train today. But he will not be in the squad."
The Verdict
The news about Austin looks to be a useful boost for the Baggies.
With Austin having already hit the ground running on Tuesday night, it looks as though he could have a big season ahead if West Brom are to push for promotion again this season.
With Robson-Kanu out through injury as well, having Austin available will also be helpful in terms of providing a number of options to Bilic on Saturday, and should relieve pressure on the likes of Kenneth Zohore up front.
I do think however that the decision to manage his game time at Luton is a smart one. Austin has been troubled by injuries recently, so Bilic will not want him picking up any knocks that could put him back on the sidelines, particularly with this the first of three Championship games in the space of a week.