After drawing back-to-back matches over the Easter weekend, West Bromwich Albion will be aiming to return to winning ways when they face Stoke City at the bet365 Stadium on Saturday afternoon in the Championship.
The Potters had to settle for a point against relegation-threatened Huddersfield Town on Monday afternoon, whilst the Baggies shared the spoils with a resurgent Watford side at The Hawthorns.
Following a run of six losses in seven Championship contests up until the end of February, Stoke City have given their survival chances a massive boost by posting three wins in their last six matches, however the Potters had to settle for a point versus lowly-ranked Huddersfield at the bet365 Stadium last time out, fighting back to earn a result.
Having only won three away games all season, the Terriers were on course to produce a shock victory when Bojan Radulovic put the visitors ahead in the first half, however Stoke managed to rally in the second period to level the scores, with Flying Dutchman Ki-Jana Hoever breaching the net of Lee Nicholls.
After collecting a respectable tally of seven points from their most-recent quartet of Championship fixtures, manager Steven Schumacher has managed to silence some of the critics since his arrival from Plymouth Argyle in December, with Stoke currently 18th in the second-tier standings, five points ahead of Huddersfield in 22nd.
A glaring issue for the Potters this term has been their inability to find the back of the net on a consistent basis, with Saturday’s hosts managing just 38 goals in 40 matches – only League One-bound Rotherham United (32) and Sheffield Wednesday (31) have scored fewer goals in the division so far.
Stoke have already tasted success against West Brom in Staffordshire this season back in August, when a second-half strike from Portuguese winger Andre Vidigal secured the hosts’ passage into the second round of the EFL Cup, knocking a second-string Albion side out of the competition at the first stage.
Since slipping up at home to Russell Martin‘s Southampton on February 16, West Brom have resumed their cruise towards the playoffs in May, extending their unbeaten run in the division to eight matches with a pair of draws versus Millwall and Watford over the Easter weekend, with the Baggies battling back on both occasions to earn a point.
A sold-out Black Country crowd were stunned on Easter Monday as Tom Cleverley‘s Hornets raced into a two-goal lead at The Hawthorns courtesy of strikes from Edo Kayembe and Mileta Rajovic, however the hosts were able to level the contest late on, with Brandon Thomas-Asante and right-back Darnell Furlong finding the back of the net in the closing stages of the match.
After being pipped to a Manager of the Season nomination by Liam Rosenior, Kieran McKenna and Daniel Farke, football-obsessed Carlos Corberan will be keen to lead his West Brom troops to an unlikely promotion via the playoffs this season, in which the Baggies could have been milling around in midtable without the expert stewardship that the Spaniard provides.
Financial issues due to the club’s previous ownership have restricted the Baggies’ purchasing power in recent transfer windows, however the January trading point was a resounding success thanks to the loan acquisition of Celtic’s Mikey Johnston, who has six goals in 12 Championship appearances, with plenty of those strikes in contention for goal of the season.
Heading into the final six matches of the regular season, Corberan’s men are occupying fifth place in the Championship table, sitting eight points ahead of seventh-placed Coventry City, although the Sky Blues have played a game fewer due to their involvement in the latter stages of this season’s FA Cup.
Stoke are without the services of midfielder Ben Pearson, who suffered a muscle injury before the international pause and will not be fit to feature on Saturday.
The Potters continue to fight on in the absence of Lynden Gooch, who sustained a muscle strain in the home loss to Norwich City on March 16.
With the former Sunderland man taking up a spot in the medical room, Jordan Thompson will continue at left-back, whilst Michael Rose and Luke McNally are set to make up the centre-back pairing for the hosts.
Making the net ripple on his return to the starting XI following an injury lay-off on Monday, Thomas-Asante is likely to operate at the focal point of the West Brom attack once again.
The 25-year-old’s presence is especially important due to the absences of Daryl Dike and Josh Maja, although the latter has returned to training and should be ready to feature for the Baggies in the near future.
Jayson Molumby is sidelined for the reminder of the campaign due to a foot injury, with Alex Mowatt stepping up into a starting role alongside the classy Okay Yokuslu in recent months.
Stoke City possible starting lineup:
Iversen; Hoever, McNally, Rose, Thompson; Baker, Burger, Leris, Laurent, Bae, Ennis
West Bromwich Albion possible starting lineup:
Palmer; Furlong, Ayaji, Kipre, Townsend; Yokuslu, Mowatt, Fellows, Swift, Johnston; Thomas-Asant
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