West Bromwich Albion head coach Carlos Corberan is not the first to question the fairness of English football’s Christmas fixture schedule – and he sure won’t be the last.

But, despite seeing his side recover from losing at Watford the previous Sunday to go into Christmas with a comfortable 2-0 win over Bristol City, Corberan was still moaning that Albion’s next opponents – Derby County on Boxing Day (17:30 GMT) -will have had two more days of rest.

The Baggies’ Sunday stroll in the rain against their feeble opponents began a run of five games in 14 days stretching until the 11th day of Christmas – 4 January.

But Corberan has been left at his most bemused by the fact that his side must now play again with almost 48 hours’ less preparation time than the Rams, who were beaten by two late Luton Town goals at Kenilworth Road on Friday night.

“Bristol City and us are the teams who suffer in this period,” said Corberan. “Teams like Derby are going to play four games in a row – we are going to play five. They have a week for the Thursday game, while we only played on Sunday.

“It is a physical disadvantage. It is madness. Playing against a team at this time of the season who have had two days’ more recovery is unfair. We cannot say we aren’t going for results. It’s my responsibility but it’s too much.

“Five games in a row. We shouldn’t have played on Sunday, knowing the games coming. We should have played Saturday, like the other Championship teams. We have only three days in between and it will be difficult from the physical perspective.”

The game was moved to Sunday as it was being shown on one of Sky’s football channels.

Bristol City do at least have their next two games at home – but Albion are now twice on the road, with a trip to face current leaders Sheffield United to follow that teatime trip to Derby.

Both games will be live on BBC Radio WM, with commentary from Steve Hermon and Albion legend Tony ‘Bomber’ Brown.

There will also be a special show on Friday, 27 December at 18:00 GMT with highlights of the conversations with Albion head coach Corberan, Birmingham City boss Chris Davies and Walsall’s Mat Sadler when they were all invited into the BBC Radio WM studio earlier in the season.

BBC Radio WM also have a West Midlands football 2024 Year in Review on Saturday, 28 December at 17:00 GMT, to be repeated on New Year’s Eve (Tuesday) at 18:00 GMT.