West Brom v Charlton: Albion face another game of frustration

The Baggies may have shown character to battle back from two goals down to draw with Barnsley on Tuesday.

But they were left incredibly frustrated by the Tykes’ five at the back system.

And there is every chance the Addicks will try and copy it tomorrow.

Charlton boss Lee Bowyer has proven to be a very canny operator since taking charge at Valley Parade.

Tactically very flexible, he tends to line up his side in either a 3-5-2, 3-4-3 or 4-4-2 diamond formation.

But the one thing all those systems have in common is that they are all very narrow and compact. And that is where Albion fell short on Tuesday, with the Baggies finding it hard to break through a sea of bodies.

According to Bilic, that was down to a number of factors.

The first was that they were too eager to play killer balls.

And the second was that they didn’t get the ball wide at the right times – with Bilic believing they needed to be more patient and wait for better openings.

“There were pockets in the first half, but we didn’t use them,” Bilic said.

“Play in the pockets and then go wide.

“It was unlike us. We were slow.

“Our four front players – who have been unbelievable in all the other games for us – they were collectively rushing things, or they were too flat.”

Moving the ball quickly will be integral if Albion are going to beat a Charlton side who have enjoyed an excellent start to life back in the Championship.

Promoted via the League One play-offs last season, they look to be a mid-table side at worst.

But they do have problems Albion can exploit heading into tomorrow’s game.

The main one is that Baggies stars Jonathan Leko and Sam Field are both unavailable under the terms of their loan.

But the Addicks only have a small squad and that means Bowyer’s options are limited, particularly off the bench.

With their high pressing game, that could be a real issue when he looks to freshen things up.

Bilic, though, is likely to have a virtually fully fit squad at his disposal with Matt Phillips and Kenneth Zohore both expected to be fit.

The Croatian has been a master at making the right change at the right time this season.

And if the game remains finally balanced in the second-half, he will have the personnel to shake it up.

Another area Albion could get joy is with Phillips on the right flank.

With Ben Purrington injured, midfielder Jake Forster-Caskey has been filling in at left wing-back. However, he pulled his hamstring in Charlton’s defeat at Bristol City on Wednesday night. That could force Chris Solly to switch sides to fill in at left-back.

And it will be interesting to see how he copes with Phillips – and Darnell Furlong, who will also be bombing forward from right-back.

The Baggies are also boosted by the fact Charlton talisman Lyle Taylor will miss the game through injury.

In his absence, in-form striker Macauley Bonne will lead the line. But centre-backs Kyle Bartley and Semi Ajayi are going to have to be just as wary of Conor Gallagher.

The Chelsea loanee has been compared to Frank Lampard because of the way he ghosts into the box with perfectly-timed runs.

And like Lampard, he is also a very good finisher having netted five goals already this season.

Bowyer likes to play two up front – with the boss believing, as a player, he always enjoyed more success with two strikers on the field.

And that means Jake Livermore will also have a big role to play helping Ajayi and Bartley if Albion are going to keep Gallagher quiet.