Basement side Luton aim to shock promotion pushing Baggies.

West Bromwich Albion host Luton Town in the EFL Championship, with both sides in need of the points.

The Hatters lie bottom of England’s second-tier, six points adrift of safety. But did earn a crucial 3-2 victory over Derby County in midweek, their first victory in nine games.

The away side also announced the acquisitions of Cameron Carter-Vickers and Eunan O’Kane on Thursday, another confidence booster for Graeme Jones’ team.

With fellow strugglers Charlton and Barnsley facing off at the Valley. It’s important the Bedfordshire side pick up a result to keep in touch with the teams above.

Their opponents, West Brom are in the thick of a race for automatic promotion. However, they themselves have not won since the middle of December. Their 2-1 defeat at Cardiff extended their winless run to seven games. This has seen them slip from a commanding 12 points clear of the Play-Offs to just two points ahead of third-placed, Nottingham Forest.

Slaven Bilic will be hoping his team can end their dismal run of form and return to their target of the Premier League, starting this weekend again last season’s League One Champions.

Like Luton, the Baggies’ have also strengthened their squad. Callum Robinson has joined West Brom from Sheffield United on loan until the end of the season and Kamil Grosicki has joined from Hull on a permanent deal. Adding to the talent that they currently possess. The fans no doubt will be hoping that he will have an impact on their season.

Their previous meeting came back in August. A second-half brace from Grady Diangana helped Albion pick up all three points at Kenilworth Road.

 

Team news

For West Brom – Grady Diagana has suffered a hamstring injury and will be out for a few weeks.

For Luton – Matty Pearson is a doubt following a hip problem, Ryan Tunnicliffe being assessed following a knee injury. Sonny Bradley is also being checked.

Slaven Bilic on his sides poor run.

“Our performances have slipped, it happens to every club.” “

It’s happened to us and tomorrow is a great opportunity to open a new page, or to go back to the page we were on for such a long time.

“We have to believe and we have to work hard. We must analyse our games and the situation, we have to be open to each other. We have to have meetings where we hear from everybody. We’ve done all of that. You must not stop believing. We need to get our spark back.

“Our belief is always there, but confidence is different. Confidence goes up and down. That happens in games, never mind over a season. The confidence is not as high as it once was but the belief is always there.”

Graeme Jones was a coach at The Hawthorns and is looking forward to his return. He also talks about his counterpart, Bilic

Yeah I’m looking forward to it. Wonderful football club and I mean wonderful, one per cent of me was disappointed there if I’m being honest, I know what happened to me and Darren (Moore). The rest, 99 per cent was magnificent, love the club and I mean that. Really, really settled and I’m looking forward to seeing some familiar faces.”

I came up against him a lot when I was assistant, I’ve obviously managed against him now but tactically he’s really, really bright. He’s got some excellent footballers and we will have to be at our best as we were on Tuesday to get something.” 

Head to Head

West Bromwich Albion wins – 25

Draws – 9

Luton Town wins – 10

[columns]
[column size=”1/2″][blog type=”timeline” posts=”10″ cats=”609″ heading=”EFL” heading_type=”timeline” /][/column]
[column size=”1/2″][blog type=”timeline” posts=”10″ cats=”117″ heading=”English Football” heading_type=”timeline” /][/column]
[/columns]