Sam Allardyce facing more hurdles in bid to turn around West Brom

The Baggies boss has seen the amount of time he can work with his players on the training ground severally restricted both by a hectic fixture schedule and rules implemented to try and prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Those rules are set to be tightened again as the country battles to come to terms with a new strain of the virus.

And Allardyce admits that is making it harder for him to work with Albion’s players and make the team more defensively sound.

“We have been told by the doctor that more restrictions are going to be put upon us,” the boss said.

“We are going to have to work in smaller groups, split up into different areas.

“I’ve even been told we are going to have to get a third coach to get to games and split the players up even more.

“The kitchen cannot host our players to sit down and eat. They have to get their food and go.

“We have to spread out our desks even further.

“And that is a real problem when you are trying to run a football club in the correct manner.

“Meetings we have to do in smaller groups, not all together.

“Again that is another big problem we face as we look to move the club forward.”

Allardyce says the lack of time he is getting to work with his squad as a group is his biggest frustration.

“I can’t have a meeting as a squad, so I can’t analyse games – after a game – with all the players together, I have to do it in three lots,” he continued.

“That makes life incredibly difficult.

“And on the training pitch, the time is quite limited at this time of year anyway because of the amount of games the players have played.

“But we all have to deal with it. We are all in the same boat and we all have to get through it as best we can.

“We will try and use our time to its maximum.

“We are doing everything we can to make signings and get players in.

“And the players we have, we are doing what we can to keep them fit, keep them fresh and keep them organised to try and win a game of football.”

Meanwhile, Jonathan Bond’s move to LA Galaxy is set to be confirmed in the coming days.

Albion’s third-choice keeper, who holds an American passport, has agreed terms on a two-year deal to join the MLS side.

The Baggies have already signed Andy Lonergan to replace Bond – who made just seven appearances for the club after joining from Reading in 2018.