[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

There comes a point when you just give up trying to predict outcomes for Albion, or suss out how they go about preparing for matches. The teams that should wipe the floor with us instead get played off the park; the teams who've barely got an ounce of fight in them roll us over with ease. The good news this weekend is that for better or worse, there's rarely any rhyme or reason about the performances we deliver and results we get against Stoke.

It was our trip to the Potteries last autumn that caused the campaign to start crumbling, and it would be fitting if Stoke's return visit were to kickstart a revival in our fortunes, though the "if" there is enormous. Four places below us, the Potters are winless in their last eight league games away from home, and that's a near-certain sign that they're suddenly going to dredge up some world-beating form from somewhere on Saturday. But as Steve Bruce has at least managed to get Albion scoring again - we've netted as many goals since the beginning of March as we did through all of November, December, January and February put together - and there seems to be some momentum and positivity on home soil for the first time in a long time, we're in with a fighting chance of the three points.