West Bromwich Albion of England, Semilore Ajayi is still celebrating his epochal 50th appearance or the English Premier League side, which he got on Monday night; but he could only help his side settle for a 1-1 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion.
Megasportsarena.com reports that, in the wake of the encounter, in which The Baggies were forced to share the points at stake by Karlan Grant’s late equalizer, Ajayi admitted he was thrilled to get his milestone outing for West Brom at AMEX Stadium.
The former Arsenal U23 captain has now appeared in 50 official matches for Albion since he joined the club from Rotherham United on July 19, 2019; after which he played five games for the team in the Premier League, 43 in the Championship, as well as one each in the League Cup and Emirates FA Cup.
The 26-year-old versatile player, who can feature as a full-0back, central defender and holding midfielder, has now pooled a total of 4,394 minutes on the pitch for WBA, and has five goals to his name in all competitions, all of them in last season’s Championship.
Of his fifty games, Ajayi was named in the starting lineup on 49 occasions while coming off the bench once, in a 3-0 win at Sheffield Wednesday in January 2020; but he is still far behind Peter Osaze Odemwingie, who (with 87 games ) remains Nigeria’s record appearance holder for West Brom in the Premier League, followed by Victor Anichebe (55), Nwankwo Kanu (53) and Aide Brown Ideye (24).
Meanwhile, former Tottenham Hotspur coach, Tim Sherwood believes Ajayi will benefit playing alongside Chelsea legend Branislav Ivanovic in the heart of West Brom’s defence.
The Baggies’ coach, Slaven Bilic has reinstated the Super Eagles star into the starting lineup for the ongoing game against Brighton & Hove at the American Express Community Stadium and he’s playing together with the Serbian for the first time.
With 262 Premier League appearances to his name, Sherwood has noted that Ivanovic’s experience on and off the pitch will be valuable for the young West Brom defenders, Ajayi in particular, even as his side have one of the leakiest defences in the top-flight, with 13 goals conceded in 5 games, and only Liverpool and Fulham have let in more goals.
Sherwood said on Premier League Productions: “Branislav Ivanovic is a decent player, he’s a good professional, they will learn off him. Ajayi is going to learn with him – talking to him throughout the game – good English, I think he is a descent signing.
“I think when you are struggling defensively, certainly when you are new to the Premier League and then come back to the Premier League, I think you need that man, that leader, someone who is going to calm them down. Ivanovic will give them that, he’s probably the best they could find at the time.”
