Ex-Portsmouth and Millwall favourite Jed Wallace hailed following selfless act for latest West Brom game
Former Pompey forward Jed Wallace has been hailed for putting his team before himself.
Carlos Corberan, the manager of West Brom, lauded his captain after advising him to sit out the Baggies’ encounter against Millwall
on Saturday.
As his manager tried to alter his strategy for the game at the Hawthorns, the 29-year-old former Fratton favourite offered to be one of
the substitutes.
Coberan wanted to promote both Jeremy Sarmiento and Grady Diangana to his starting line-up, which meant either Wallace or
Brandon Thomas-Asante dropping out of the team.
It was proving a difficult call. Yet the one-time Blues youngster stepped in and nominated himself to be dropped.
And it was a selfless act that filled Corberan with pride.
He told the Express & Star: ‘Jed Wallace this week has showed me and to our team why he is our captain.
‘When I was preparing the game on Friday, I thought it was important to have Sarmiento and Diangana in the first XI – trying to play
the game that they wanted to do, to be aggressive with the playmakers.
‘I was talking with Wallace and Asante to explain that one would play as a number nine, and one would start on the bench.
‘I wanted to explain to them that because both are very important players to me and to the team, and I respect them a lot.
‘Wallace said to me that Asante should play, even though he was fully determined to play against Millwall. He thought that the best
way for the team was to use our number nine.
‘Wallace doesn’t like to miss any minutes, but he has a lot of value in this club and with his team behind this answer. He is someone
who was thinking of the team before himself – it’s as simple as that.
‘I am proud and pleased to have him as the captain of my team.’
Coberan’s changes didn’t have the impact he had hoped for as the West Brom v Millwall game ended goalless, leaving the hosts 13th in
the Championship table.
Wallace – who has made eight appearances for the Baggies this season, scoring once and recording one assist – came on as a 77th-
minute substitute but was unable to help break the deadlock against his former Lions team-mates.
The forward is into his second season at the Hawthorns, following his free transfer move from Millwall in the summer of 2022. Last
season he scored six goals in 46 outings and registered eight assists.
Wallace scored 30 goals in 121 games for Pompey, before moving to Wolves in 2015 for a fee believed to be around £250,000.
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