Albion skipper misses derby clash
ALAN Irvine today ruled out Chris Brunt from Saturday's Barclays Premier League clash with Aston Villa.
Speaking to the media at today's press conference, the Baggies boss revealed that the Northern Ireland winger had failed to shrug off his hamstring injury.
Olsson, meanwhile, is still recovering from his recent foot operation.
But Stephane Sessegnon and Youssouf Mulumbu are both fit for the clash against Villa.
ON TEAM-NEWS, Irvine said:
"Chris won’t be fit for the game. Chris and Jonas Olsson are definitely ruled out.
"Stephane Sessegnon is OK. He has trained.
"He had a bit of a problem with his calf last week but by Monday he was fine so he’s trained all week.
"We were worried about Youssouf Mulumbu’s ankle but he’s OK. He’s trained as well so they’re fine."
ON VILLA:
"Until a month ago I probably wasn’t fully aware of the importance of this derby.
"As someone from the outside it always seemed to be Albion versus Wolves and Villa versus Blues.
"But about a month ago people started making me aware of the significance of this game so it’s been made pretty clear to me just what it means to everybody.
"I grew up with Rangers and Celtic and there’s plenty of passion in that one.
"Everybody learns very quickly about the importance of derby matches to everybody who is involved with the clubs.
"This derby means as much to the people of West Brom and Villa as Rangers and Celtic, Everton v Liverpool or the Manchester derby means to their fans.
"It’s a huge fixture in the calendar each year."