It is more than two years since Yves Bissouma enjoyed something of a breakthrough at Molineux.

His performance in a 0-0 draw was rated by Graham Potter as the best he had seen from the midfielder to that point.

There was no chance of gaining momentum.

The Premier League then joined the world in lockdown and Albion did not play for another 15 weeks.

Bissouma was just emerging back then. Dale Stephens and Davy Propper were the senior midfield figures.

Now he is key to Albion’s gameplan. How key was subject of conversation as Potter spoke to the media before welcoming him back from a two-game ban.

Stats can be deceptive and manipulated but it is perhaps no surprise how the results stack up with and without him on the pitch.

The record when he has played (21 starts plus a game-changing contribution off the bench at Watford) has been eight wins, six draws and eight defeats.

That compares to one win, eight draws and three defeats when he has been absent or left on the bench.

The one win he missed was at home to Brentford on Boxing Day.

He missed the trip to leaders Manchester City.

But he also remained an unused sub in both games against Norwich, so they are included with the games he missed.

Albion have not always been good when he has been on the pitch and there were questions, perhaps overstated, over his form in the weeks soon after the Africa Cup Of Nations.

Nor have they always been bad when he has been away.

But there is a noticeable gap to fill in midfield when he is not there.

Potter was expecting some stats to be sent his way regarding Albion with and without Bissouma when the subject was raised at his press conference on Thursday.

But he had numbers and facts of his own.

He said: “If you look at the course of the season, it’s not like we win 20-odd games.

“We have nine wins so far. That would suggest that, with or without Yves, it’s difficult.

“I think it depends on who we play.

“We played Manchester City without Yves so we could probably have a couple of Yves playing against Manchester City and we still might not win.

“There’s a bit of it in it.

“I think he played against Burnley, when we didn’t win.

“I don’t think we are a team that necessarily relies on Yves Bissouma but it would help us if he is available.

“In the Premier League you don’t win with one guy.

“I think you need the team to play well and that’s what we have to do at the weekend, certainly.”

At Molineux in March 2020, Bissouma was just starting to have a midfield influence.

As he faced his last pre-Covid post-match press conference for at least two years, Potter said: “He will get better and better the more he plays.

“He showed a discipline and a quality.

“He makes good decisions, he has got the quality that the top players have, which is sometimes to take an extra touch.

“It’s a fine line but he has got the power and athleticism and technical quality to deal with the ball.

“Then it is just the tactical understanding, which I think he has developed.”

Plenty has developed since then.

Bissouma has been the midfield general for a while now and talk has increased about where his future will lie.

The extension of that discussion is who takes the Bissouma role for Albion?

Moises Caicedo is the man most often mentioned.

Alexis Mac Allister has operated as an all-action, deeper-lying role of late.

Enock Mwepu and Jakub Moder both have a degree of midfield versatility.

Or maybe Albion would replace him – if he were to go – as they did Ben White in defence.

By not really replacing him at all but amending the way they play.

Potter said: “I always think it’s collective.

“Back to our strategy – we haven’t got two Yves Bissoumas, we haven’t got two Lewis Dunks, we haven’t got two Danny Welbecks.

“You’ve got different players, different characteristics and it’s finding the right collective solution.

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“Most people would say if can keep your spine of the team relatively neutral and consistent, that gives you more of a chance.

“For different reasons we haven’t been able to do that.

“Injuries to our centre-backs, Yves has been suspended probably a couple of times so that is not helpful either.”