Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
West Brom striker Saido Berahino has recovered from a stomach bug, while fit-again goalkeeper Ben Foster could play his first league game this season.
Chris Brunt, Darren Fletcher and Jonas Olsson are all doubts, while James Morrison is out for eight weeks.
Aston Villa may be without Gabby Agbonlahor because of a hip injury, while Carlos Sanchez will also have a fitness test on his hamstring problem.
Alan Hutton, Adama Traore and Jordan Amavi remain sidelined.
Editor’s Note: Aston Villa are undoubtedly experiencing their best run of form this season, ok they are still bottom of the league but they have picked up 4 points in their last two matches and they are through to the 4th Round of the F.A. Cup, it’s baby steps at Villa Park but is Remi Garde managing to turn the ship around?
They may have still left themselves too much to do to salvage this season but at least confidence is a bit higher and that can go a long way to getting results. They went behind at home to Leicester last weekend but managed to battle back to get a share of points, they may have had a stroke of fortune when Riyad Mahrez missed a Penalty but that coupled with Wayne Hennessey’s howler in their win over Crystal Palace and it seems as if the Footballing Gods are smiling as of late. Have they used up all their luck as they travel to Midlands rivals West Brom this afternoon.
West Brom scraped past Bristol City in the F.A. Cup replay in Midweek and were comfortably beaten by Southampton last Saturday, although that was a first league defeat in 4 matches. West Brom are just above that pocket of teams worrying about relegation, they’ll just have enough in them to stay up but the fact that James Morrison is out for 8 weeks is a massive blow.
Saido Berahino missed Wednesday’s Cup Replay with “A bug”, it will be interesting to see if that “bug” has cleared up for today’s visit of Aston Villa or whether he is being kept in cotton wool as he edges nearer a departure from The Hawthorns. After all if he was to get injured any deal would be off and Tony Pulis has said he needs to sell before he can buy
As for matters on the pitch, I think it was a local derby Villa’s momentum at present should give them a resurgence on the pitch. I don’t think they’ll have enough to beat Tony Pulis’ men but I can see the points being shared and it also gets my vote for Last On Match Of The Day. A draw for me
