Carlos Corberan shows confidence in his players – Confirmed West Brom starting XI v Watford
Carlos Corberan’s West Brom starting XI for the high-stakes trip to Vicarage Road to face Watford has been confirmed by the club.
The manager has gone for a completely unchanged starting line-up and substitutes bench from the 1-1 draw with Blackburn, showing faith in his players to bounce back from the result.
Josh Griffiths remains in goal, with Darnell Furlong, Dara O’Shea, Erik Pieters and Conor Townsend making up the back four.
The midfield comprises of Nathaniel Chalobah, Okay Yokuslu and Marc Albrighton, while John Swift and Jed Wallace support Brandon Thomas-Asante in attack.
Back on the horse
The need to get a result in this match is as high as any in recent weeks, with the Baggies currently going through possibly the biggest wobble of the Corberan era.
West Brom were within minutes of a hard-fought win over Blackburn in the previous outing before Ben Brereton Diaz equalised, making it five points dropped in the past two Championship fixtures now.
The Birmingham City defeat before that was highly disappointing, especially after the morale-boost of Corberan’s new contract ending the links to Leeds United, and a deflating late draw on top might allow some worries to creep in.
Falling to 10th as a result means the play-off place is obviously under threat, and with the chance to climb past the Hornets into eighth three points would be hugely beneficial now.
There has been relatively little in terms of tough times since the manager took over in October so this is now arguably his first real test.
Drop more points here and suddenly the congested race for the play-off places starts to look daunting, so the fanbase will be hoping he has got his team selection right to pick up a crucial win on the road against a direct rival.
In other West Brom news, a Sky Sports pundit has had his say on what the outcome is going to be at Vicarage Road.