David Prutton predicts result of West Brom clash vs Norwich
Sky Sports pundit David Prutton believes Steve Bruce would want his West Brom side to be facing anyone but Norwich this weekend.
The Baggies were beaten 3-2 in midweek by Birmingham at The Hawthorns, watching them drop to 20th place in the Championship with just one win from their opening nine games of the season.
With the pressure on Bruce’s job at West Brom now building, Prutton told SkySports.com [16 September] that he believes things won’t get any better this week and that the Canaries will take all three points and make it seven wins in a row with a 2-1 victory.
“Norwich look imperious now,” he said. “To think there were doubters over Dean Smith and his side after a few games this season. Themselves and Sheffield United have already built themselves a little gap over the chasing pack.
“The pressure is building at West Brom. They head into the weekend 20th in the table off the back of a damaging defeat to Birmingham.
“Steve Bruce needs to rectify the situation before it’s too late, and this is probably the last game he’d want right now. I think Norwich will take the points here with a seventh straight win.”
Trouble
Baggies fans had big concerns over Bruce being the manager after he failed to turn things around when replacing Valerien Ismael last year, and they seem to have been justified.
Bruce was given some leeway because of the fact it wasn’t his squad and he had no striker after Daryl Dike’s injury, but now he has got his squad after a busy summer transfer window and results haven’t picked up.
Performances haven’t necessarily been bad, but without points and results the club move further and further away from promotion back to the Premier League with every passing week.
With the international break taking place immediately after this weekend’s game, a bad result could potentially see the board take action and cut ties to be able to replace him with enough time to not effect games too much.
But Bruce will be keen to turn things around himself, and must start by proving Prutton wrong at Carrow Road.
In other West Brom news, the club have an “immediate” recall option for one young starlet out on loan