West Bromwich Albion will want to strengthen their grip on a top six spot away at Middlesbrough today, hoping to make it three games unbeaten in the Championship with a win after settling for a draw against Stoke City last match.
Carlos Corberan's Baggies were unfortunate not to pick up three points against the Potters on the balance of play – West Brom coming in with a far superior xG of 1.32 – as per Sofascore – to Stoke's 0.43 on the day – but the West Midlands outfit just couldn't unlock a rigid away defence again after Brandon Thomas-Asante's equalising goal.
West Brom's creativity was stunted somewhat by Grady Diangana having another off-day in Baggies blue and white, the former West Ham United man failing to be a consistent performer for Corberan's men this season with poor individual displays becoming more and more common.
Grady Diangana's performance in numbers vs Stoke
The 25-year-old continues to blow hot and cold for the promotion hopefuls, West Brom needing Diangana to step up and perform to help in the promotion race and to allow the second tier club to forget about Matt Phillips' long-term absence on the opposite flank.
Phillips' creative spark was missing in the 1-1 draw, Diangana nowhere near his best in the game with nothing up his sleeve to conjure up a moment of magic to steer his side to a win.
It was a weak and passive display in truth from the Congolese right winger, losing 33.33% of his duels in the contest with just one ground duel won in the process.
Moreover, although he amassed two key passes in total at the Hawthorns, he was unable to add a fourth assist to his season tally.
Diangana was also wasteful with the ball in other instances, losing possession 16 times in the game before Corberan substituted the below-par Baggies man off for promising academy product Tom Fellows just after the 70 minute mark.
Birmingham Live journalist Joseph Chapman was frank in his assessment of Diangana's performance after the final whistle, giving the Congolese attacker a 5/10 rating in his post-match article – stating that the 25-year-old endured a 'sticky' game and 'didn't have much luck' in an afternoon to forget.
Fellows arguably upstaged Diangana by offering more bite in attack despite only being on the pitch for 19 minutes, completing all of his dribble attempts in the game when slaloming forward alongside being 100% successful with his passes.
Diangana could be fearing for his starting spot in games to come as a result, no longer the dependable star man at the Hawthorns.
Grady Diangana's season in numbers
West Brom's number 11 hasn't been completely off the pace this season however, showing in flashes still why the West Midlands outfit splashed £18m to land the services of the slick winger in 2020.
Diangana was scintillating early into this campaign for Corberan's men that saw him roll back the years to when he first emerged onto the scene at West Brom, scoring three goals and assisting a further two strikes in a run of five games in October and November.
In the next seven matches after this purple patch however, Diangana has only managed two more goal contributions with the ex Hammers man needing to re-energise his season soon to save his stuttering West Brom career.
There's no time like the present for the dynamic Baggies winger therefore to start performing again, wanting to celebrate the festive period in style with a goal away at Middlesbrough to send the West Brom fans away from the Riverside Stadium in good spirits and to kickstart his up and down campaign.