West Brom confirmed XI v Stoke City: Darnell Furlong dropped, Karlan Grant on bench
The club have confirmed Steve Bruceβs West Brom starting XI for the clash with 15th-placed Stoke City in the Championship.
A late push for the playoffs looks out of reach after the 1-0 derby defeat at Birmingham, but following an accomplished 2-0 victory over automatic promotion candidates Bournemouth on Wednesday (6 April) there is something to build on.
The manager has opted for one change today, dropping Darnell Furlong to the bench in favour of Jayson Molumby, while Karlan Grant is fit to take a place among the substitutes after injury and illness.
Andy Carroll and Grady Diangana keep their places up front, and the midfield three of Jake Livermore, Alex Mowatt and Taylor Gardner-Hickman are unchanged.
Molumby comes in for Furlong, while Conor Townsend keeps his place.
Sam Johnstone is in goal as normal, behind the defensive unit of Semi Ajayi, Matt Clarke and Kyle Bartley.
Wild swings
It is hard to know what to make of this Baggies side since Bruce came in.
They have produced some highly encouraging displays against the top teams in the league.
Yet they have also had some showings that were easily as bad as what got Valerien Ismael sacked.
Stoke are exactly the calibre of team that too often have seen the side play down to their level or below, but if they can build on the Cherries result here it would inject some sustained good feeling.
Plans are being made for the start of next season, and it looks like the boss is going to remain in place for that.
Some continuity after the lat two years will be a benefit in itself, but with players due back from injury for pre-season, and contract renewals on the cards, the former Newcastle manager just might be building something at the Hawthorns.
At the very least the home stretch of the season needs to feature more of the positive than the negative, even if the playoffs are now a bridge too far.
In other West Brom news, Steve Madeley shared what has happened that gives signals for the summer and the start of next season.
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