Tony Mowbray insists Abdoulaye Meite will be in the right frame of mind if he is selected against Portsmouth.
Baggies defender ready to put tragedy behind him
West Brom boss Tony Mowbray insists defender Abdoulaye Meite will be in the right frame of mind if he is selected for the must-win game against Portsmouth.
Meite was part of the Ivory Coast team which played Malawi in a World Cup qualifier shortly after a collapsed wall killed 19 spectators at the stadium nearly a fortnight ago.
The former Bolton centre-back was not included in the side for last weekend's home game against Stoke but that was due to Shelton Martis' fine form rather than the 28-year-old being affected by the tragedy.
Meite is back in contention for today's Premier League clash at Fratton Park and Mowbray has no doubt he will be focused if called upon.
"Meite is a good man, a good human being. He seems fine. I don't see a guy falling to bits," the Baggies boss said.
Very serious
"If you have been involved in a football match where 19 to 20 people have died beforehand, it is obviously very, very serious and yet I see him just getting on with his job.
"How it has impacted on him, I don't know. But I see him being the same sort of lad he was before he went away for that game.
"I hope he is in the right frame of mind if he is picked. He hasn't suggested to me otherwise.
"I had a quick conversation and I took that as him being fine. If he had said he wasn't coping, I would have gone into it a bit deeper with him but that has not been the case," Mowbray added.
