[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

The welcome news that Carlos Corberan has signed a fresh contract - a decent deterrent to hostile swoops, if not a guarantee against them - coupled with last Friday's unglamorous-but-solid win over Coventry, puts the wind back in Albion sails again as we prepare to visit St Andrews on Friday night. And we might require that wind, as 2022 was a rough year for us against Blues, losing both derbies in the calendar year to end an unbeaten streak that stretched back to 2006, and leaving them now on the verge of completing a double over us for the first time since 1998-99. Their form since Christmas has been distinctly patchy, but with two stoppage-time goals last Saturday delivering a 4-3 turnaround and three points at Swansea, they may well be on a high of their own.

Blackburn will then be the visitors to the Hawthorns next Wednesday in a huge encounter in the playoff race. As things stand, Rovers are on a winless run of three which may well extend at Watford on Saturday; pile the misery on them, and we'll be heading the right way. Two points from these two challenging matches would be acceptable if a little disappointing; three would be hitting the 1.5 average we need, but four or more would be a huge stride forward.