Josh Maja celebrates his goal to make it 3-0 during the Sky Bet Championship match between West Bromwich Albion vs Preston North End at The Hawthorns, West Bromwich, United Kingdom, 1st January 2025 . [Photo Credit/ Imago].
Maja ended last season as West Brom’s highest goalscorer with twelve goals in twenty-six games…
West Bromwich Albion head coach Ryan Mason has given a positive update on the injury of Super Eagles striker Josh Maja, Soccernet.ng reports.
The 26-year-old suffered a calf injury back in January and has been out of action for 211 days. His absence proved pivotal for the Harthowns as they missed out on the EFL Championship play-off spot.
Maja was close to returning to full action before the 2024/2025 season ended, but he suffered a setback in his recovery process.
Get Our Sports News First – Join Our WhatsApp Channel Now!
West Bromwich Albion have been playing against several top sides in their pre-season preparation fixtures. They’ve locked horns against teams like Dynamo Kyiv, Lincoln and Rayo Vallecano.
Latest on Maja‘s calf injury
Maja made the bench in West Brom’s 3-2 win over Rayo Vallecano but didn’t feature, hinting at progress in his recovery journey.
After the game, Ryan Mason urged his side to replicate such tenacity in the Championship in the coming season.
“We have to remember this feeling and understand why we were able to be successful today. We know we still have a lot of work to do, but when you win games, you always get a good feeling,” he said in quotes revealed by the club’s official website.
“We have to believe in ourselves, regardless of who we play against. Rayo pose different threats to some of the teams we’ll come up against in the Championship this season, but it’s all part of understanding that when you have to suffer, you have to do it together.
“I thought we showed a real desire to work for each other today, and, ultimately, we’ve got the rewards. It was a really good performance and a positive result.”
The 34-year-old gaffer mentioned he’s trying to ease the England-born Nigerian striker back into action after he spent a lot of time on the sidelines.
“Obviously, he’s had an extremely long time out,” Mason told Express and Star after the final whistle.
“He’s got to a good place, and he just felt a little something, so hopefully it’s nothing serious and he should be OK for the start of the season,” the former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder.
Squad Status #WBA
• Daryl Dike (thigh) and Tammer Bany (hamstring) will be out until after the September international break.
• Mason is “optimistic” about Josh Maja returning for the start of the season.
• Diakite has a knock but should be back for Blackburn pic.twitter.com/kKqNmXTA4r
— WBA Report (@WBAReport) August 3, 2025
West Bromwich will be hoping to have Maja back in action when they play against Blackburn Rovers in their EFL Championship curtain raiser.
Adefolahan Guerreiro
Adefolahan is a multilingual journalist and writer at Soccernet Nigeria.
With a track record of involvement in College sports, Adefolahan is focused on crafting engaging football content and utilising his language skills and extensive sports knowledge to enhance content accessibility for a global audience.
He has interviewed Nigerian stars like Finidi George, Junior Lokosa, and Abraham Onahi Ogbu.