With the March international break coming to a close, West Bromwich Albion fans are gearing up for the derby clash against Birmingham City at The Hawthorns this coming Friday evening.
With caretaker head coach Jimmy Shan having a 100% record since he replaced Darren Moore in the dugout, confidence is high that we can take all three points and the bragging rights and victory would move us, at least temporarily, four points off the top two in the Championship table.
Speaking to wba.co.uk this week as our attentions come back to real football, Shan said that training had been good since our last game and the players had been given some time off to rest and recuperate, so he was confident looking ahead to the game.
“This will be a very very similar challenge to the first match at St Andrew’s. They have a clear way of doing things, very structured with plenty of physicality and a real threat from the two boys up front. Depending on their selection, there is creativity in the wide areas and I think it’s fair to say we found it difficult against their organisation in the first game. They were a very well drilled and organised team. It’s a local derby and that will bring a fantastic atmosphere I’m sure but one for us to all look forward to.”
In terms of team selection, he pointed to Matty Phillips who continues his recovery and Ahmed Hegazi has come back from Egypt in good shape, so we’re just waiting on Stefan Johansen and some of the youngsters to return now so we can see how they are.
