The evening kick-off in the Championship this Saturday signals another tough fixture in the second tier for Nathan Jones and Stoke City as The Potters face high-flying West Brom at the bet365 Stadium with home advantage not being necessarily the case for Stoke as the pressure upon them to get results is increasing.
Stoke recently parted ways with former manager Gary Rowett in early January after an ordinary sequence of results where too many draws were perceived as failure, but strangely enough, when they lost 2-0 at home to Bristol City (which signalled the end of Rowett’s tenure), Stoke had actually lost just twice in their previous 13 matches.
At the time of Rowett’s departure, Stoke City were in 14th place and eight points adrift of the play-off pack, while under Nathan Jones, The Potters sit in 15th place and now nine points behind.
The hosts have lost four of their last five matches overall with defeats to Bristol City, Brentford, Preston North End and Hull City, while they’ve recorded a 2-1 win over a wobbling Leeds United outfit in Jones’s first home match of his reign.
The jury is still out on Jones, but another defeat here could see further upheaval at the former Premier League club.
West Brom have a different pressure on their hands at the moment as the west midlands club continue in their quest for an immediate return to the Premier League under manager Darren Moore.
The Baggies sit in 4th spot in the Championship but find themselves seven points adrift of the automatic promotion places following their 302 defeat at home to Tony Pulis’s Middlesbrough outfit as Pulis bit the hand that used to feed him last weekend which would have tasted very sweet for the Welshman.
With just one win from their last six at The Hawthorns, being away from home this weekend might just work in West Brom’s favour, away from the expectation of all three points in every home game, the visitors have won five of their last six on the road.
West Brom hold a pretty good away record of W7 D3 L4 scored 24 conceded 17 so far this season, and having beaten Ipswich Town, Swansea City, Sheffield United, Rotherham United and Bolton Wanderers, The Baggies will see Stoke City being ripe for the picking here too.
The pressure switches over onto Stoke City here, and this may well suit West Brom in this clash as the visitors look in good shape to take the points here.