View: Rarely-seen player could start in one change – West Brom predicted XI v Preston
Slaven Bilic is set to be forced into making at least one change to his West Brom side ahead of their clash against Preston at The Hawthorns on Tuesday night.
Romaine Sawyers is suspended for the match after being sent off in the 3-0 win against Bristol City on Saturday and could be replaced in the midfield by Rekeem Harper.
The 19-year-old has barely featured for West Brom this season with him appearing just four times in the Championship.
However three of those appearances have come in Albion’s last four matches and there is a chance Bilic could hand Harper his first league start of the campaign due to Sawyers’ suspension and doubts surrounding the fitness of Gareth Barry and Chris Brunt.
Other than Harper coming in to potentially replace Sawyers, Bilic could stick with the same line-up that he named for the win at Bristol City.
While that would mean that Kyle Bartley will have to sit out again, Ahmed Hegazi did no wrong at the weekend as West Brom kept a clean sheet at Ashton Gate.
Sam Johnstone is predicted to start in goals behind an unchanged back-four of Dara O’Shea, Semi Ajayi, Hegazi and Conor Townsend.
Harper could join Jake Livermore and Filip Krovinovic in the central midfield roles with Bilic preferring a 4-3-3 formation in recent weeks.
In the attack, Callum Robinson and Matheus Pereira are likely to keep hold of their spots on the flanks while Hal Robson-Kanu, who scored a brace against Bristol City, could start up front again.
In other West Brom news, Kevin Phillips has urged Bilic to stick with this in-form player despite an experienced ace returning from injury soon.