18-10-2019, 07:48
![[Image: WBAMiddlesbrough.jpg]](https://image.ibb.co/mphGCe/WBAMiddlesbrough.jpg)
It's been a leisurely couple of weeks sitting on top of the league, but this weekend we resume the defence of our precarious perch with a trip up to Teesside to face Boro, who proved a real thorn in Albion's side last season. Of course, that was with Pulis at the helm; under Jonathan Woodgate, the Smoggies haven't fared half so well this year, and could even find themselves in the bottom three after this one if results go against them. But their record against us at home is pretty solid; apart from back-to-back triumphs at the Riverside in September 2008 and 2009 (the latter the famous 5-0 drubbing that sent Boro into a tailspin they've arguably never recovered from), we've really struggled historically on Teesside, recording our last-ever win at the old Ayresome Park way back in 1952, and falling short in the two visits we've made so far this decade.
It's been easier going at home to Barnsley, which is Tuesday night's fixture; the first meeting of the sides since the 1-1 draw that concluded the Di Matteo promotion campaign in May 2010. The last time the Tykes took three points from the Hawthorns, the new millennium was only three days old, and it's been a very rough ride for them since, with our 7-0 demolition job in 2007 being the obvious highlight. They were much fiercer opposition - or rather, Albion were more abject competitors - through the late Eighties and much of the Nineties, but now sitting one from bottom and coming off a 5-1 hammering at Preston before the break, they'll need something special to hark back to those happy days.
Two banana skins, or six easy points to shore up top spot? Only one way to find out.
"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
