[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Though the unedifying spectacle of Wednesday's 2-0 defeat to Preston may have been the last straw for most of us, it would appear that Valerian Ismael retains the backing of the board for this weekend at least, as Albion venture down to South London for an outing at Millwall. With Daryl Dike injured, we've put all our chips on one last spin of the wheel in the form of Andy Carroll, who's still leaping for long balls like it's 2010. So, nothing's likely to change in the style of play, but if we can at least hoof it well enough to grind out a few wins, Ismael may yet survive for a few weeks to come. O joy and rapture unbounded.

We've only lost once in our last seven league matches against Millwall, and that came nearly three years ago; however, the hard-fought 2-0 win on a blustery Sunday in February 2020 was our only victory at the New Den to date, with our previous record a long string of tough outings stretching right back to the days of Cold Blow Lane and mentally subnormal men wearing surgical masks in the home end. Firmly entrenched in lower mid-table, the Lions have lost three on the bounce, though Tom Bradshaw has been in a decent run of form, and if they're to turn things around against us then he'll likely be in the thick of the action.

With a ten-day break in our schedule following this encounter, the club would have a long old time to ponder what constitutes a bad result, and what actions they might take to remedy our current woes. In other circumstances a draw would probably suffice, but draws don't equal playoff places, and draws don't save jobs. I think there needs to be a big reaction to Wednesday's performance, and a result to match.