What has John Eustace said about West Brom ahead of Derby showdown?
West Brom host Derby County in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday as they look to replicate their fine win against Blackburn.
The Baggies were solid during their 1-0 opening day Championship victory against Valerien Ismael’s Blackburn Rovers, with Nat Phillips a notable standout.
The former Liverpool defender blocked and headed away everything as Ryan Mason outplayed his ex-Albion counterpart.
West Brom supporters can expect a much-changed side for the cup game against Derby, and it will be interesting to see how the opposition sets up.
John Eustace full of praise for West Brom
Mason’s side showed that pre-season can be elusive when his side ran out 1-0 winners against Blackburn, despite disappointing losses to Blackpool and Lincoln in the summer.
The Albion will be hoping to carry the performance into the game against Eustace’s Derby side.
The former Birmingham boss isn’t the most popular among Baggies supporters after turning down their approaches last winter following Carlos Corberan’s move to Valencia.
He stated that he was happy at Blackburn and wanted to “build something special” before departing for Derby just a couple of months later.
When he was the Birmingham boss in February 2023, Eustace called West Brom one of the best sides in the Championship at the time and said there was no excuse for the Baggies not winning the league that season.
Ultimately, The Albion ended the 2022/23 campaign in ninth place, three points outside the playoffs.
Ahead of Tuesday’s game (12 August), Eustace has again been praising Mason’s side, saying West Brom has a “fantastic squad of players” and that they will “play a really good style of football.”
He also added that the game is a great opportunity to give some of his fringe players more match time, so supporters can expect a much-changed side from the team that lost 3-1 to Derby.
West Brom to get one other on Eustace
As a manager, Eustace has so far managed to get the better of The Albion.
| Games | Wins | Draws | Losses | |
| Manager | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| Player | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
However, the League Cup game offers West Brom an opportunity to take advantage of Derby’s struggles.
The Rams were without many of their first-team players against Stoke, and barring Daryl Dike and Tammer Bany, the Baggies don’t have many injury worries.
Therefore, Mason has the perfect opportunity to stop the rot against Eustace.
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