17-01-2020, 15:26
Though Albion top the Championship table again going into this weekend, that position feels a bit too precarious for comfort with the Baggies winless in the league for over a month, and what was a 12-point cushion from the playoff places slowly whittled away to 7 points. Granted, many promotion-chasing clubs would probably bite your hand off for that kind of lead at this stage of the season, but it's the direction of travel that's concerning, and just one win to consolidate things would settle a lot of nerves around the Hawthorns.
On paper, you'd say that Monday night's clash against relegation-battling Stoke would be the ideal opportunity, but the Potters seem to have gained a bit of fight under Michael O'Neill with recent wins against Huddersfield and Sheffield Wednesday. Irrespective of their changing form, we're always guaranteed a derby against Stoke by virtue of their lack of other rivals, and that takes us very much into the realm of anything being possible on Monday. The sooner we send them down to get reacquainted with Port Vale, the better for all concerned; but to do so, we've got to dig ourselves out of the current rut and back on track.