West Brom v Middlesbrough preview: Slaven Bilic backs West Brom to fire ahead of a stern test
Former boss Slaven Bilic has backed Albion in the race for the top six, insisting his old club have ‘all the tools’ for a promotion push.
Carlos Corberan’s side face arguably their toughest test left this season with the visit of in-form Middlesbrough tomorrow.
No club in the top four divisions has a better points return than Boro, managed by Michael Carrick, over the last 10 games (27), in their surge up the Championship table to automatic promotion contenders.
Hawthorns promotion-winner Bilic locked horns with the Baggies for the first time since his 2020 axing this week, where he got the better of Corberan’s visitors to Vicarage Road on a chaotic night.
But the Croat could not hide how impressed he was at the Albion squad and impressive development under Corberan.
Asked if Albion are still a top-six contender, Bilic said: “Definitely. Look, West Brom – when I was in Croatia at the beginning of the season, before I got the Watford job, West Brom weren’t... maybe I am connected to those players because some of them I trained, but on paper they were extremely underachieving. Under Steve Bruce they were also unlucky.
“You have everything there. You have British core of the players. You have that mentality.
“You have a good defence, you have a good midfield. You are great on the flanks, you are good up front.
“They were underachieving and Carlos brought them back, which was not easy – no matter how good you are on paper, if it’s not happening...”
Bilic said: “He brought them up in such a short space of time, it’s great and they are there.
“This game was also very important for them also, because there are less and less games. Make no mistake, if we have a chance here when we play good, it goes for them also, definitely.”
While Watford’s victory – and subsequent midweek fixtures – sees them outside of the top six on goal difference alone, Albion were left down in 10th and five points from the top six, a gap the Baggies will not want to see widen further.
Carrick and Corberan’s appointments were just 24 hours apart in late October. Albion were 23rd at the beginning of the Spaniard’s tenure – and slipped a place to bottom after his first match – while Boro were just three points better off in 21st.
Both young head coaches, aged 41 and 39 respectively, led remarkable turnarounds in their club’s campaigns and spearheaded charges not only into the top half, but towards the play-off positions.
The Baggies’ form, though, hit a bump in the road into the new year, notably on the road, with four straight defeats in all competitions.
Boro, though, maintained their stunning form and, now third, have built up a seven-point buffer in the play-off race. They are also troubling Sheffield United, in second, and are just four points behind.
Carrick’s men have won nine and lost just once in 10 league games.
