Jonny Drury & Lewis Cox analyse West Brom's final day clash with Preston
Jonny Drury and Lewis Cox preview West Brom's clash against Preston.
Albion have lost three games on the bounce with their play-off spot yet to be secured.
However, a point on the final day will be enough to confirm a top six spot.
Albion have lost three games on the bounce with their play-off spot yet to be secured.
However, a point on the final day will be enough to confirm a top six spot.
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00:00 [Music]
00:07 My name is Jonny Jewry. As always, I'm alongside Albion correspondent, Lewis Cox, as we look ahead to tomorrow's huge clash with Preston.
00:16 The final game of the season and Albion's playoff hopes still in the balance. It is in their hands.
00:23 A point will do against North End tomorrow, but anything less and they will be looking over their shoulders.
00:32 Coxy, how are your nerves?
00:35 Kicking in, Jonny, but I'm alright. I think nerves are probably in a better place than yours,
00:42 although you did just hammer home the message before we went on air that any other game is just like any other game.
00:50 You sounded like a level-headed manager off the pitch.
00:54 You just made the sort of point, maybe tongue-in-cheek, that that's what Carlos Corbijn will be saying to his players before the 12.30 kick-off.
01:02 But, I don't know, after spending some time in his company and yesterday's press conference on Thursday, he was quite into it.
01:11 He was quite fired up. I mean, Baggies fans will have hopefully caught some of the quotes he gave in today's Express The Star.
01:19 Pretty emotive stuff from Carlos, who's typically level, doesn't get too carried away.
01:27 All season down, he's basically said, "Come back to me in game 46," and here we are.
01:34 I think underneath all of this, there is a sense of, and not necessarily from the manager, because he said for a good few weeks now,
01:43 "Look, if we get in the playoffs on the last second of the last game, I'll be happy." But I think from everyone else involved, there's a little bit of, "How have we got here, really?"
01:52 But look, we know how the last three games have gone. Three poor results, three differing performance levels, but signs of pressure, nerves, slipping up.
02:04 And Albion just need to get the job done tomorrow, don't they? They need to treat it like a game. They just have to go and win.
02:13 Forget this lark about going to draw. Go and beat a team that you're better than at a ground where you've been excellent for 18 months.
02:23 Use the atmosphere. Yes, it will be loud, won't it? Hopefully. We hope that the atmosphere at the start will be really good.
02:31 It will transform into nerves and tension as the game goes on if Albion don't score.
02:37 But use the atmosphere early on. Try and get right at them. Fly into them, as Jed Wallace said to me yesterday.
02:43 Again, speaking to Wallace, some really fired-up comments from him about how the team have been this week.
02:49 So, yes, I'm expecting Albion to be playing hard-game nerves, but to be right at it tomorrow.
02:55 And I'm hopeful that Albion right at it at home will be enough.
02:59 The scenario we want is 80 minutes, Albion 3, Preston 0. It doesn't really matter what happens at home then, but if Hull are losing, that'll be fantastic against Plymouth.
03:11 But for me, Coxsey, tomorrow, yes, we talk about this cracking atmosphere. There will be a fantastic atmosphere before the game.
03:19 If they don't play the Liquidator, I will eat my hat.
03:22 But what they also need, because we've seen at times this season the atmosphere can get a little bit touchy, a little bit nervy.
03:30 Albion need a fast start and they need an early goal. They need to fire out of the blocks tomorrow.
03:35 And I'm sure that's probably something that Carlos Corbijn is hammering home as we speak.
03:39 Yes, I mean, that's the ideal, isn't it? Clearly. What I would say is he did hammer home in his press conference yesterday, the note of patience.
03:49 I think with what you've just said in mind, really, Johnny, with the message to supporters, look, if we don't get that ideal start and that goal,
03:58 if it's nil-nil at half-time, we don't want to lose you. Stay with us type thing. Don't tip over into full-blown crisis mode.
04:11 But look, we all know if Albion are at nil-nil, and especially if Hull are leading, obviously, down south,
04:21 we all know it's only one wrong turn at the Hawthorns from a disaster, isn't it?
04:27 So, look, of course, there'll be nerves and tension if the game remains goalless.
04:32 But yes, the obvious ideal is… We've seen fast starts at the Hawthorns, haven't we? We've seen them turn into goals.
04:40 I mean, was it Mikey Johnson? 19 seconds, wasn't it, against Cardiff or something daft like that?
04:45 We've seen other games this season where Albion have netted early and sort of got the job done.
04:50 We've seen games where they started really well, positively, but not made it count with a goal.
04:55 And there have been other examples where it's had to be the late show.
04:59 I mean, Watford Springs to mind. The most recent game, Sunderland, played for me pretty well for half an hour.
05:07 It didn't make anything count and obviously lost Thomas Assante, and we all know what happened then.
05:11 So, yes, it's going to be lively, isn't it? I mean, Carlos Corbijn likened… well, hoped.
05:20 He said yesterday he hoped the atmosphere will be similar to the Wolves' Black Country derby in January.
05:25 Now, I think we all hope for that. We don't sort of hope for the sideshow and the level of drama that that brought, do we?
05:35 But hopefully there'll be no Preston fans in the home end. But, yeah, I mean, anything like that crackling sort of melting pot atmosphere will be great.
05:46 And Corbijn has used the word 'intimidate', hasn't he? And I think, you know, Preston come, they won't want to roll over, will they?
05:52 They've got sort of professional pride to play for. They won't, you would think, have their tummies tickled.
05:57 But if Albion aren't the pitch and the stands can be like full throttle, they should just be able to swarm all over Preston.
06:04 To be honest, sort of how Wednesday were with Albion last week, I just thought all round Wednesday were the better side.
06:11 And Albion can go and do that tomorrow, can't they? They can. They need to.
06:16 Yes, a point, a dull nil-nil, a dull one-one is enough.
06:23 And we're probably all celebrating, but it'd be nice to do it with a victory, wouldn't it?
06:28 And a convincing one at that, I think. If not for confidence, a bit of sort of momentum, really.
06:34 A bit of belief, I think, that you'd get from that final day win rather than just edging over the line with a draw.
06:40 It sort of extends that, oh, there's only been one winning however many games, doesn't there?
06:45 I think it's one winning seven. So I'd certainly like to put that to bed.
06:49 And yeah, Carlos has called it a cup final. Everything's on the line.
06:54 He said pressure, bring on pressure. Pressure should be the biggest motivator.
06:59 And I mean, I agree with him. That's the idea. But it's time for his players to stand right up to that, isn't it?
07:05 Obviously, there's been a little wobble and it's the ultimate time. It's the only time left to get the job done.
07:14 There are some injury issues. Josh Maggia, Brandon Thomas Asante, Tom Fellows and Matt Phillips with all sort of knocks and niggles and sort of question marks.
07:23 But how do you see Albion leading the line on Saturday? Do you think it's going to be Brandon Thomas Asante back in?
07:32 That's what I'd do, to be honest. So Thomas Asante was brought up fitness-wise in yesterday's press conference.
07:38 Corbijn said he was just feeling a little thing in his hamstring. Obviously, not too long ago, maybe a month or so, he was sort of coming back from a hamstring injury.
07:48 So obviously, he had the red card in between that. And he was a sub last week, wasn't he, Thomas Asante?
07:53 He came on for the final half an hour at Hillsborough. Obviously, Wallace started up front.
07:57 And Corbijn did say within that sub appearance, he was feeling sort of a bit of something in the muscle and then didn't train properly Monday because of that.
08:07 But has been right back at it this week. And yeah, maybe that puts a little doubt next to Thomas Asante.
08:12 But I'd start. If everyone was OK, I'd start him, to be honest.
08:16 So just think you're at home. Get that striker up front. Corbijn's also told us Josh Maggia, obviously returning striker Josh Maggia, played for the under-21s the other night.
08:25 We know 80 minutes did so well. Corbijn said to me he's not ready to start yet in the Championship.
08:30 Big difference. And I didn't expect him to start. I know a lot of fans hoped Josh Maggia would start tomorrow.
08:39 Just not quite ready physically. And that's how it is.
08:43 Happily, Josh Maggia should be ready to come off the bench for half an hour, 35, 40 minutes if required.
08:48 And if a goal is desperately needed, you know, as it could well be.
08:52 So I would go Thomas Asante personally. Hopefully that little problem isn't too much of an issue for him.
08:59 I'd get Wallace back out on the flank where he does his best stuff.
09:03 I would, without doubt, get Alex Moat back into central midfield.
09:07 I'm still surprised he missed out last week.
09:11 I'd revert the shape to the usual back four, really.
09:15 There's a five at Leicester when Albin were really good. Five last week, they weren't so good.
09:20 And I know at times it has been a five, St Peter's in defence.
09:23 Obviously, of late it's been Ockhite. But for me, the four is where Albin have been at their consistent best this season.
09:29 You know, you're Kushloo, Moat. Yeah, they're almost tried and trusted, I think.
09:35 And for me, that's the way to go. Tom Fellows is OK. I did double check.
09:40 He wasn't fit enough, I don't think, last week at Sheffield Wednesday to start.
09:44 And obviously, we were all sort of surprised to see Matt Phillips starting a wing-back role.
09:48 But Fellows is fine now. It's in that classic sort of 4-2-3-1.
09:55 It's just a roll of the dice as to whether it's Wallace, it's Fellows, it's Johnson, Deangana.
10:00 There's options, isn't there? Obviously, Swift among that as well.
10:04 So, yeah, a few decisions to make.
10:07 But I expect, certainly in my opinion, I expect Corbijn to go back to the familiar set-up.
10:14 I think, I imagine that's what most supporters would want to see too.