Tom Fellows axed in five changes – West Brom confirmed XI v Millwall
Tony Mowbray has made five changes to his starting side ahead of West Brom against Millwall at The Den on Saturday.
Mowbray’s side head south to The Den off the back of a 2-0 home loss to Blackburn Rovers in midweek, a defeat which saw them fall to sixth in the Championship table and risk falling out of the play-off places.
Facing a Millwall side who were thumped 5-1 by Plymouth following straight four wins in all competitions, Albion fans will be keen for a response after two wins and losses apiece so far since Mowbray’s return.
The 61-year-old had been expected to only make three changes ahead of this contest in South London,
Tony Mowbray swings axe for West Brom v Millwall
The Baggies posted their starting XI with five changes made from Wednesday’s defeat to Blackburn, with Semi Ajayi being the headline inclusion after a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
Ajayi makes his first appearance since a hamstring injury in late October to take Mason Holgate’s place at the back, while Ousmane Diakite is also named ahead of Alex Mowatt in defensive midfield.
Changes aplenty come in Albion’s attacking quartet, though, with Tom Fellows, Mikey Johnston and Isaac Price all dropped following their drab display in front of goal against Blackburn.
Skipper Jed Wallace and Grady Diangana both return to the XI having been go-to players in Mowbray’s first few matches back at The Hawthorns, with a full debut awarded to Tottenham loanee Will Lankshear.
It remains to be seen if Baggies will line up with a 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2 featuring Lankshear and fellow arrival Adam Armstrong up front together, but Mowbray has picked a strong, front-footed side regardless.
The dropped Fellows, Mowatt and Holgate are joined on the bench by Mikey Johnston and Isaac Price, but there’s also a first matchday-squad appearance of the season for Daryl Dike after his own injury hell.
West Brom must bounce back v Millwall
The Championship promotion race is shaping up to be very similar to the one which played out last season, with a top four pulling well clear of their chasers and leaving Albion to scrap for a play-off place.
While Carlos Corberan’s Baggies were clearly the best of the rest last term, finishing five points clear of Hull City in seventh, this season is looking likely to be much tighter with many more serious contenders.
Blackburn’s victory at The Hawthorns on Wednesday saw them leapfrog Mowbray‘s side into fifth place, dropping West Brom to sixth and leaving them with just a two-point buffer ahead of the chasing pack.
Ahead of Albion’s clash at The Den, the five sides sat directly below them are all within just one victory of sixth place, and despite having inferior goal differences, they’ll all be confident of overtaking West Brom.
With a chance to keep the sides below them at arm’s length and overtake Blackburn into fifth once more, Mowbray will know that anything less than three points in Bermondsey will only see the pressure mount.