Albion are in the Premier League top six for injuries and the bottom half of the table for what they spend on players’ wages.

That is not a particularly good mix for a club who need to make their money work hard for them.

The top six in in terms of days lost to injury, that is.

Their squad has been tested to the limit and, in the last few weeks, it has felt like the dam has given way as they suffer a flood of defeats and goals conceded.

So the club have acted quickly to try and ensure they get better value for money – by keeping players on the pitch.

Numbers released recently by Premier Injuries had Albion at sixth place for days of activity lost due to player injuries.

Their total as of last week was 1,402 days, not far behind big-budget Chelsea and the rather less wealthy Sheffield United and Crystal Palace.

Brentford stood second while Newcastle had lost 1,658 days to injuries.

There is an argument that is not the full story.

Even when some players have officially not been injured, it has also felt like they have not been on full power.

Julio Enciso, Evan Ferguson and Pervis Estupinan are all examples of that.

Of course, there could be similar cases at other clubs.

But what really matters for Albion is keeping their own men fit, no matter what goes on elsewhere.

Which is why Paul Barber expects two new off-field additions to be warmly welcomed by head coach Roberto De Zerbi and his staff.

Dr Florian Pfab will take over as head of medical when he moves across from Eintracht Frankfurt this summer.

Dr Gary Walker, previously of Manchester United and latterly with Cincinnati in MLS, will head the conditioning department.

Barber said: “That gives us two senior, very experienced, high level individuals to help Roberto and his staff to help prepare the players for more games, for longer games, more intense games.

“It also helps them recover afterwards and to treat injuries.

“I think Roberto and I are very happy with the appointments we have made.”

Some of the stats speak for themselves this season.

After 34 games, let's look at some of these numbers for Prem starts.

The numbers in brackets are how many league games each player started last season.

Solly March 7 (31), Jack Hinshelwood 8 (0), Adam Webster 9 (23), Tariq Lamptey 9 (3), James Milner 11 (7 for Liverpool), Pervis Estupinan 15 (31), Joel Veltman 15 (25), Kaoru Mitoma 15 (24), Evan Ferguson 15 (10), Joao Pedro 16 (31 for Watford).

And now some explanatory notes. Milner only started seven league games for Liverpool but he played in 31 (compared to 15 for Albion this term).

Ferguson only started ten last term but he did not break into the XI until the turn of the year and this was supposed to be the season when he kicked on.

Hinshelwood was not in the first team squad until right at the end of last season so his comparison is irrelevant.

Webster has been overtaken by Jan Paul van Hecke in the pecking order but it would still be great to have him as a fully-fit option, producing the form which led to England talk at one stage.

Mitoma did not start any of the first 11 fixtures last season so his tally of 24 starts is from 27 games.

Of course, he was away for part of this campaign due to the Asian Cup.

But he was injured for most of that period anyway.

Danny Welbeck has made 18 starts, which is in line with his 21 last season, but it often feels like his minutes have to be carefully monitored.

He worked with Walker at Old Trafford and it will be interesting to see how he responds if they are reunited (subject to confirmation of the striker’s new contract).

And then there is Adam Lallana. His name rarely features on the injury list but, at the same time, his playing time is limited.

He has started 12 games in the Premier League this season and his contributions have been more about quality than quantity.

Barber referred to the addition of Pfab and Walker as investments. They can certainly help protect investments.

Football finance lecturer Kieran Maguire believes Albion’s current wage bill ranks only above the three teams promoted last season plus Brentford and Bournemouth and is in the same ballpark as others such as Fulham and Crystal Palace.

So bottom half of the table – and we wait to see whether that changes.

The task for the two new signings will be to keep them well away from that other top six.