O’Shea starts – One change in confirmed West Brom XI v Brighton
West Brom have made one change to the side ahead of the vital relegation clash with Brighton at The Hawthorns on Saturday afternoon.
Brighton are 12 points ahead of Albion but a win for the home side would really crank the pressure on the Seagulls and give the hosts a glimmer of hope in their battle to beat the drop.
The team was announced on the club’s official Twitter account before the game as fans waited to see if Big Sam would make changes.
Sam Johnstone lines up behind Darnell Furlong, Kyle Bartley and Conor Townsend again but this time Dara O’Shea starts in place of the suspended Semi Ajayi who picked up a red card v Burnley, so the 21-year-old will slot in at centre-back.
Okay Yokuslu, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Conor Gallagher form a midfield trio with Matheus Pereira and Matt Phillips waiting on the wings.
Mbaye Diagne will hope to add to his solitary Albion goal as he spearheads the attack.
Biggest game of the season…again
Albion will be hoping to extend their mini unbeaten run of two games after drawing previous encounters with Burnley and Manchester United.
This has been positive but we have to start converting these into wins to stand any chance of lifting ourselves from the doldrums of the bottom.
Brighton have not won in their last four games and have scored just twice in them so they are there to be got at.
We must attack this game with the positivity it merits and ensure we are not left tinged with any regrets after.
A win here would really give a big boost ahead of fixtures against Newcastle United and Crystal Palace in the coming weeks, two games that we should also be aiming for maximum points in.
In other West Brom news, Steve Madeley says Robert Snodgrass can fix an Albion issue.
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