23-08-2024, 08:47
![[Image: OIG4-g-RUhx-Mqi-WF6-A.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/92xQdc5/OIG4-g-RUhx-Mqi-WF6-A.jpg)
Four points from our first two matches is a better return than most of us would have dared hope for, to the extent that it almost feels ungrateful to lament the absence of clinical finishing that might have seen us punish an out-of-sorts Leeds last weekend. In time that'll hopefully come, as our transfer business continues late into the window with the likes of Uros Racic arriving this week, but for this Saturday at least, we'll have to soldier on with the shoestring side who are somehow defying all expectations.
Stoke is the destination, where - in a turn of events that would once have made Tony Pulis eat his baseball cap - we haven't lost a league match since autumn 2021, are unbeaten in four of the last five, have scored at least once in seven of the last eight, and have won five and drawn five of the last thirteen visits. A win for either side on Saturday would broach impressive ground; for us it would mean consecutive away league wins for the first time since April 2023, while for the Potters it would be four home wins on the bounce for the first time since April 2014. Steve Schumacher has a few transfer headaches of his own, but like Corberan, appears to be getting the best out of the XI at his disposal, which if nothing else promises some real makeshift magic on Saturday afternoon.
There's no reason to tinker with the defence after last week's clean sheet, and likewise, the control Mowatt and Swift exert over midfield guarantees their places. Whether Jed Wallace will be put straight back into the team after his cameo from the bench versus Leeds is uncertain, but he could prove a calm and wise decision-making head in the final third if used. Fresh from a thumping at Watford, it's hard to say whether Stoke will be raring to bounce back or shaken enough to crumble under early Albion pressure, but a point here would ultimately be a welcome outcome.
"I would rather spend a holiday in Tuscany than in the Black Country, but if I were compelled to choose between living in West Bromwich or Florence, I should make straight for West Bromwich." - J.B. Priestley
