West Bromwich Albion chasing Championship play-off race and have the backing to reach it

National World - LocalTV

Tony Mowbray has returned to West Bromwich Albion as head coach, signing a two-and-a-half-year contract. Mowbray’s attacking philosophy and extensive Championship experience are expected to bolster the team’s push for promotion.

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00:00Looking at West Bromwich Albion and the promotion race, the race for those play-offs is obviously

00:07quite a big gap now emerging between the top four and the rest. But I mean, there are three

00:13points from 5th to 10th after 29 championship games. I mean, it's a real Tony Mowbray job,

00:20you feel, to come in and see that over the line. What can you sort of expect? Obviously,

00:26the loss to Middlesbrough wasn't great. Those are the games you really have to win. But

00:30if Albion simply focus on beating the likes of Portsmouth at home and those lower level

00:35sides, then surely they will rack up those points. What do you sort of feel Mowbray's

00:40approach is going to be to this play-off race? Because as ever, it's such a tough division

00:45to get out of. It's so hard to ensure you're in that top six spot and it can change so

00:51quickly as well. The Saturday, Tuesday games, they come so thick, so fast. A couple of results

00:57that go your way, you're right up there. A couple that go against you and you're right

01:00down there again. So, is Mowbray the man for the job? Can you see them really pushing on

01:06in this second half of the season and ensuring they're in those top six spots?

01:11Yeah, I think that Mowbray will really excel back at the Hawthorns. The only problem potentially

01:17is the lack of a striker. Josh Madger injured a hamstring problem that he had to have surgery

01:22on. He's not going to be back for quite a while. You've got Daryl Deeker who's coming

01:26back into the picture, but having had two very long-term injuries in succession, he's

01:30not going to be relied upon straight away up front. So, they need to dip their toes

01:34in the transfer market, you feel, if they're going to have a chance of really pushing on.

01:38But they've got fantastic upper championship level players and potentially Premier League

01:42players in there as well. The likes of Tom Fellows have really impressed. Grady Dean

01:47Garner against Portsmouth looked like a completely new player. Jed Wallace and John Swift, who

01:51struggled under Carlos Corbijn at the start of the season on the bench most of the time

01:56in a 4-4-2 system, appeared to excel. Wallace just off the striker and Mowbray proving that

02:02you might not necessarily need an out-and-out number nine to succeed, but signing one in

02:06the window should be a priority and should help them nonetheless. So, hopefully can get

02:10something like that across the line. But as you say, it is incredibly tight. Middlesbrough,

02:15that defeat was pretty gutting, especially as they're now level on points with Albion.

02:19You've got the likes of Blackburn just a couple of points behind. Bristol City, Watford, Sheffield

02:24Wednesday, three behind. And then Norwich City as well, five or six behind, I believe.

02:29And then so many other teams as well that are in that bottom half that could push on

02:32into that top half if they get some results together. I don't think Oxford United are

02:36going to be in the picture anytime soon, but Gary Rowett, what a job he's doing there.

02:40Really unbeaten in his start at the club. It's just so competitive and it's exactly

02:45what we want to see in the championship. Albion fans expect a lot of entertainment. It's not

02:49going to be a sure bet for the playoffs and I would expect them to remain there. Build

02:53some momentum, gain some confidence from that Portsmouth win and an important run of games

02:58coming up to keep that going.

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