West Brom v Middlesbrough – predicted line-ups
Albion correspondent Lewis Cox has had a crack at his predicted XI and substitutes with Carlos Corberan's men set to return to The Hawthorns against Middlesbrough tomorrow.
Albion (3-4-3):
Palmer
Ajayi
Kipre
Pieters
Furlong
Molumby
Yokuslu
Phillips
Wallace (c)
Thomas-Asante
Sarmiento
Subs: Griffiths, Bartley, Taylor, Townsend, Chalobah, Mowatt, Diangana, Swift, Maja.
After speaking with Carlos Corberan at his pre-Middlesbrough press conference this morning it seems touch-and-go whether Jeremy Sarmiento will finally be handed a full Albion debut.
The boss suggested the Brighton loanee is ready to start, but Corberan is mulling over whether the visit of Boro is the right time to throw him in after the Ecuadorian has spent time building his fitness.
The other question mark comes over whether Matt Phillips continues at left wing-back over Conor Townsend. That was a surprise at Elland Road last week and Phillips played well, so it may be tricky for Townsend to force his way back in – though this is on the assumption or expectation Corberan sticks to a back three/back five and wing-backs.
There is a slight concern over Semi Ajayi's ankle after the centre-half rolled it in the Leeds draw, but the head coach is confident having trained yesterday the Nigerian should be OK to feature assuming he makes it through training today.
Kyle Bartley, who was this week subject to some speculation regarding his future – which was wide of the mark – is on stand-by to fill in if Ajayi is unable to feature.
