Jakub Moder has the versatility and adaptability to fit Roberto De Zerbi’s plans for Albion.

The Poland international is on course for his first start in 22 months.

He is expected to face Stoke City in the FA Cup third round.

Moder had to wait a long time for the chance to impress De Zerbi and his coaching staff as he recovered from a knee injury.

He was a spectator as players such as Moises Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister got the first chance to impress in midfield.

He had to look on and wonder as Carlos Baleba, Mahmoud Dahoud and James Milner were added to the midfield ranks.

And again as Billy Gilmour was handed more regular opportunities to impress.

But he was flung in at the deep end as Albion prepared to restart with ten men at Nottingham Forest having seen their lead cut to 3-2.

He came through that and helped protect another narrow win at home to Brentford.

Now, after five outings off the bench, it seems the first start since a game at Newcastle in early March, 2022, is within touching distance.

Moder signed for Graham Potter and, of course, there was every chance his qualities would not fit in with what De Zerbi wanted once he got himself fit.

But that has not been the case as the head coach made clear yesterday.

De Zerbi said: “Jakub is a great guy.

“I think he can be important for us because he can play in different positions.

“The other guys love him because he has a great attitude, great behaviour and is a smart player.

“We are helping him to reach the best condition because, after a long injury like he suffered, he needs much time to come back to his level.”

Moder’s start will not be a case of just handing out minutes.

De Zerbi has made it clear he wants to win this cup tie an go on a run to rival or better last season.

He added: “We are going to play with the best team I can choose.

“It’s a very important target for us, especially if we think about last year because we lost in the semi-final in a bad way. We still remember the game. It’s an important game, we played our best, we gave our best and we played seriously.

“We learned early in the FA Cup when we played Stoke, we won and reached the semi-final which was exciting.

“It’s important, it’s an important competition. We have to play our best.”