West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper Alex Palmer is excited by the prospect that Carlos Corberan's squad have broken the back of their injury woes and are set to be enhanced by the return of a glut of personnel who are healthy once more. Albion have battled through their October and November injury crisis admirably and remain on the coat-tails of the leading pack.

When they take to the field again this weekend against high fliers Ipswich Town, following the culmination of the final international break of 2023, they might have either or both of Josh Maja and John Swift to help beef up their ranks as they face up to a strenuous winter schedule which ought to separate the serious promotion contenders from those who can't keep pace.

On top of that, even the long-term injury victims are beginning to appear again; both Daryl Dike and Adam Reach have been back on the grass and should be available around Christmas and New Year, while even Martin Kelly - who devastatingly picked up a season-ending knee injury on debut for loan club Wigan last January - is back training with his teammates.

Palmer, who has been in immense form since September when he secured his first clean sheet at Bristol City and, in the meantime, has leapt to the top of the Championship shut-out rankings with seven accrued in 11 matches, feels refreshed by the break permitted by Corberan. He's also buoyed by the prospect of a near fully fit squad.

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"The more often we can have a fully fit squad, the more chances we've got," Palmer said. "Even with those injuries we've had massive impacts off the bench. We have quality players right through the squad, so whoever starts and whoever is on the bench, you can impact the game. The gaffer is massive on that. Having those guys back now, hopefully Dike in a few weeks, it's only going to make the team stronger.

"Mentioning Kells, he's a top top guy first and foremost but when he's had this sort of period away, you forget he's a top player and will be a quality addition. He's great to have around the group as well. I'm buzzing he's back. I think the togetherness has always been there. You could see it last season with a tough period and then we eventually got going. We stuck together, there haven't been too many changes, so the togetherness has always been there and it's getting stronger with the players coming back to the group now.

"The break has been nice. At the start of the season you get a couple of opportunities to have a bit of a rest and I think you need it ahead of the busiest part of the season. Having a 'bye' week, if you want to call it that, is nice. It refreshes the mind as well, and then you come here and there's some good training - you get minutes in the legs, tough sessions.

"It's a tough schedule but it's what football is, the tradition of it. It's a good period, you get through so many games and then after Christmas and into the New Year you get an idea of how the season is going to play out. We will just look forward to the games coming thick and fast."

As strong as Palmer's individual form has been lately - he has made some staggering saves this term, as well as the point-winning penalty denial against Millwall and, even though eventually beaten, an impressive stop against Southampton last weekend before Will Smallbone followed up to open the scoring early doors.

Having battled back late last season after an injury set-back suffered in training, Palmer did face criticism early in this campaign; while man of the match at Leeds United, there were goals conceded against Blackburn Rovers on the opening day and in the defeat to Huddersfield Town with which he might've done better - by his own admission. The response, though, has been an emphatic one.

"I try to watch the game as quickly as possible, whether it's on the evening or the morning after," he explained. "The missus is always banging onto me about how much football I watch! I do like to watch that and then move onto the next game. We get sent so many clips in training from Marcos [Abad, GK coach] so it always seems like I'm always watching football. I enjoy it, but it's good to reflect on training bits and focus on matches coming up. I'm able to switch off but keen to improve as well.

"If you look at last season, we had a good number of clean sheets. We've got incredible players, a great defensive unit and the boss here wants us to be solid, but to play as well. First and foremost, though, if we can keep a clean sheet and stop as many goals going in as possible it gives us a massive chance at the other end. We have Barts, Semi, Erik and Cedric who have all been incredible this season."

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