15-03-2024, 01:39
One more push and we're into the home straight for another season: Bristol City are the last visitors to the Hawthorns before the international break, and though the cushion beneath us remains comfy at five points, one bad Easter weekend a fortnight from now could tear the stuffing right out of it. Four points on the road last week was a fantastic return, but now it's back to the business of grinding out vital home wins.
Having just broken a run of four defeats with a win over Swansea last weekend, the Robins arrive having perhaps turned a corner; moreover, for a side that's tended to struggle against us in the 21st century, their recent record is pretty respectable. Having held us to a goalless draw earlier this season and beaten us 3-0 in the cup last year, their last visit to the Hawthorns - a week before Carlos Corberan took over - also ended happily for them with a 2-0 win, their first in West Bromwich since 1993. But as we know, Albion are no mugs right now either; despite an occasional half to forget on our travels, we're on a roll of six wins from the last seven on home soil, with four clean sheets in that time, and Mikey Johnston is undisputed holder of the Romelu Lukaku Award For Players Who Are Way Too Good To Sign Permanently For Us, No Matter How Many Chickens We Sacrifice To The Enormous Bloodstained Idol In The Catacombs Under The Smethwick End. Averaging a goal every 86 minutes since joining us, he has the best time-per-goal ratio in the Championship among players who've scored five times or more, and it would be a brave man or a fool who bet against him doing it again on Saturday.
The last time both Baggies-Robins encounters in a single season ended in stalemate was fully fifty years ago in 1973-74, and no one wants to go back to that, however much they love the Wombles and Alvin Stardust. Three points to send us sailing into the international break, and we'll be nicely set for the run-in.