View: West Brom must take advantage of latest Leeds slip up by beating Stoke
West Brom have the opportunity to move four points clear at the top of the Championship on Monday when they welcome Stoke City to The Hawthorns.
Leeds United lost 1-0 away at QPR on Saturday while Brentford, who started the match-week in third, were held to a 0-0 draw by Huddersfield.
Although Fulham won and replaced Brentford in third place, there is still an opportunity for West Brom to take advantage of the fact some of their closest rivals slipped up on Saturday.
Albion do not play until Monday night and it should be seen as a relief that they can go into the clash with Stoke without the burden of having to win to stay well clear of third.
However that does not mean that they should not be fighting tooth and nail to get all three points against the Potters as they can move eight points clear of third by winning.
West Brom’s form has been woeful as of late with Slaven Bilic not seeing his side win in any of their last five matches.
Despite the poor run, they remain top and in a good position to win automatic promotion at the end of the season.
There is no better time for that dreadful run to end than against Stoke.
Not only is it always nice to get one over the Potters, it is also key to bounce back to form at the earliest opportunity and before Leeds and other promotion rivals manage to sort their form out.
Grady Diangana’s return to fitness is bound to help as Albion have not won any of the six games he has missed since signing on loan from West Ham in the summer.
Let’s hope the England Under-21 international can return to the starting line-up with a bang on Monday night.
In other West Brom news, Kevin Phillips says there are clubs keen to sign this Albion duo.