Jake Livermore starts – Confirmed West Brom XI v Hull City
Steve Bruce has named a strong West Brom starting line-up against Hull City as he looks to secure his first win since taking charge at the Hawthorns.
The play-off hopes are slim at the moment, but more than anything else, the Baggies desperately need some points on board.
Bruce has made five changes, with Jake Livermore returning to the side. Darnell Furlong, Taylor Gardner-Hickman, Karlan Grant and Matthew Clarke also return to the starting line-up.
Andy Carroll has been dropped to the bench. Dara O’Shea, Grady Diangana, Adam Reach and Jayson Molumby also dropped.
Must-win
This is a massive game for the Baggies, and they need to return to winning ways.
The Baggies are without a win in their last seven Championship games, losing six of them.
Bruce was appointed to take the club to promotion or at least to play-off places. The former Newcastle boss appeared confident of doing that when he first joined.
However, the results haven’t improved under him. On top of that, the overall performance has dropped significantly.
It gives the impression as if the players are not even trying to salvage pride for themselves, let alone fight to climb up the ladder.
According to latest reports from The Athletic, some players within the squad feels that Bruce has had mistakes while some players are mentally and physically worn out due to the gruelling system under the previous manager, Valerien Ismael.
The situation needs to change, and at the moment, Bruce is failing to motivate his own players.
In other West Brom news, Steve Bruce gives a brutal assessment of his Albion players.
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