West Bromwich Albion hopeful Semi Ajayi will return to action on Boxing Day against Bristol City

ENGLISH Championship side West Bromwich Albion (WBA) are optimistic that Nigerian centreback Semi Ajayi will return to the starting line-up for their Boxing Day clash against Bristol City having returned to the bench against Coventry City on Wednesday.

Ajayi, 29, has been a long tern absentee through injury but returned to the matchday squad earlier this week against Coventry City following a lengthy spell on the sidelines. WBA manager Carlos Corberán, is now confident that the defender will start in the heart of the defence on December 26 against Coventry and will be joined by Dara O’Shea

Unfortunately, Ajayi has not played competitively for the Baggies since he went off injured at Wigan Athletic on August 30. It was thought his injury problems were over as he returned to full training just before the World Cup break and travelled with the squad for a mid-season training camp in Spain.

However, the former Arsenal U21 skipper played the entirety of the second half in the friendly against Elche, only to suffer a shoulder injury in training before the Championship restart. This ailment saw him miss back-to-back matches against Sunderland and Rotherham United but there is now light at the end of the tunnel for the Super Eagles central defender.

Ajayi has missed 17 matches played by West Brom so far this season due to injury but was started in seven games before this. Mr Corberán had been hoping that he would feature in the recent 0-1 loss to Coventry but he was only an unused substitute.