[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

The win at QPR last week eases the pressure on Albion somewhat in this final week of pre-winter domestic football, but thanks to other results we remain two points off safety in the bottom three, and as ever, these unexpected triumphs on the road must be regarded as bonus points in a dogfight. The job in hand is still getting results at home against the teams just above us, and to that end we welcome (in the loosest possible sense of the word) Stoke to the Hawthorns this Saturday.

Since beating them 2-0 this time three years ago, the Baggies have lost every encounter with the Potters: a trio of regrettable additions to the sixty-three total occasions on which Stoke have got the better of us in history, a tally which comfortably dwarfs their win-record against literally any other side in existence. Moreover, their awaydays have yielded five clean sheets so far this season - an achievement bettered only by Preston - along with 14 of their 25 points. It's not a promising prospect all in all, but as Corberan continues to find a starting XI he can work with, reverting to a back four and finding a solid core in the centre of the park, it may be that he has a trick or two up his sleeve yet. Blackpool set up to shut us out in our last home match, but we dug up the scrappy goal needed to see them off; if we can find the same kind of set-piece threat that will undo Stoke, then we're in business.

Losing would be a psychological blow that we don't need going into a four-week break. A draw wouldn't be the end of the world with the QPR points in the bank, but if we can hit a three-game winning streak for the first time since August 2021, the winter ahead will look a lot less bleak.