Are West Bromwich Albion likely to make the Championship play-offs?

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.

Transcript

00:00Looking at West Bromwich Albion and the promotion race, the race for those play-offs, there's

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

00:13are three points from fifth to tenth after 29 championship games. I mean, it's a real

00:19Tony Mowbray job, you feel, to come in and see that over the line. What can you sort

00:25of expect? Obviously, the loss to Middlesbrough wasn't great. Those are the games you really

00:29have to win. But if Albion simply focus on beating the likes of Portsmouth at home and

00:34those lower-level sides, then surely they will rack up those points. What do you sort

00:40of feel Mowbray's approach is going to be to this play-off race? Because as ever, it's

00:44such a tough division to get out of. It's so hard to ensure you're in that top six spot

00:50and it can change so quickly as well. The Saturday-Tuesday games, they come so thick,

00:55so fast. A couple of results that go your way, you're right up there. A couple that

00:59go against you and you're right down there again. So, is Mowbray the man for the job?

01:05Can you see them really pushing on in this second half of the season and ensuring they're

01:09in 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. He had to have surgery

01:22on it. 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 players

01:43in there as well. The likes of Tom Fellows have really impressed. Grady Dean-Garner against

01:48Portsmouth looked like a completely new player. Jed Wallace and John Swift, who struggled

01:53under Carlos Corbijn at the start of the season, on the bench most of the time in a 4-4-2 system

01:58appeared to excel. Wallace just off the striker and Mowbray proving that you might not necessarily

02:03need an out-and-out No. 9 to succeed, but signing one in the window should be a priority

02:08and should help them nonetheless. So, hopefully we can get something like that across the

02:11line.

02:12But as you say, it is incredibly tight. Middlesbrough, that defeat was pretty gutting, especially

02:17as they're now level on points with Albion. You've got the likes of Blackburn just a couple

02:21points behind, Bristol City, Watford, Sheffield Wednesday, three behind and then Norwich City

02:26as well. They're in that bottom half that could push on into that top half if they get

02:30some results together. I don't think Oxford United are going to be in the picture anytime

02:33soon, but Gary Rowett, what a job he's doing there, completely unbeaten in his start at

02:38the club.

02:39Yeah, it's just so competitive. It's exactly what we want to see in the championship. Albion

02:44fans expect a lot of entertainment. It's not going to be a sure bet for the playoffs, but

02:48they've been in those top six positions for the majority of the season and I would expect

02:52them to remain there and build some momentum, gain some confidence from that Portsmouth

02:56win and an important run of games coming up to keep that going.

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