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May 12, 2024
West Bromwich Albion will try to make home advantage count in the first leg of the Championship playoff semi-final against Southampton.
Since the beginning of the year, the Baggies have only suffered three home losses, one of which came against the Saints in February.
Southampton will be hoping for a win going into next Friday night’s second leg at St. Mary’s.
Saints will be hoping for a repeat and a trip to Wembley after defeating Carlos Corberan’s team to complete the league double. They want to return to the Premier League at the first opportunity.
A ten-game unbeaten streak from February to April 13 helped West Brom finish fifth in the table and qualify for the playoffs. But before overcoming Preston North End 3-0 on the last day of the season, they had lost three games in a row.
They were ahead thanks to a penalty from Alex Mowatt in first-half stoppage time. Then Kyle Bartley and Darnell Furlong’s goals sealed a convincing win at The Hawthorns.
On the other hand, Southampton was chasing automatic promotion up until the season’s last few weeks.
Russell Martin’s team lost to Cardiff City, Leicester City, and Stoke City in the same week, which proved costly. They ended up nine points behind Suffolk Town in fourth place.
They did, however, recover to defeat Leeds United last weekend at Elland Road on the previous day of the season.
Will Smallbone and Adam Armstrong’s goals were sufficient to give them a 2-1 victory over Leeds, who were in third place.
The victory in Yorkshire marked the Saints’ first road victory since early March, and they will hope for a strong showing when they return to St. Mary’s for the second leg.
West Brom has no new concerns regarding injuries as they prepare for the first leg.
Boss Corberan told the media: “In the last period of the competition, we didn’t lose players for more than one game. Everyone has been fit and we have had the possibility to add players back from long-term injuries.
“I have worked with 21 pitch (outfield) players, which is the maximum number of players we have right now.”
Meanwhile, the Saints will be crossing their fingers that Cheech Adams is healthy after the forward hobbled off in the season’s penultimate match.
Alex McCarthy, an experienced goalie, takes over in goal as long-term absentee Gavin Bazunu continues to miss action.
There are doubts about whether Saints will stick with the back-five they used against Leeds or switch to their more comfortable 4-3-3 formation.
West Brom players are Palmer, Furlong, Bartley, Kipre, Townsend, Yokuslu, Mowatt, Wallace, Diangana, Johnston, and Thomas-Asante.
McCarthy, Walker-Peters, Harwood-Bellis, Stephens, Manning; Downes, Aribo, Smallbone; Fraser, Armstrong, Sulemana, Southampton.
After coming to The Hawthorns on loan from Celtic in January, winger Johnston has undoubtedly enjoyed his brief stay. The Ireland international, who has scored seven goals since moving here, hopes to contribute to West Brom’s playoff run.
Following his March Championship Player of the Month win, Johnston has shown in recent weeks that the other teams are beginning to recognize his abilities.
Adams might miss this game, so the Saints’ leading scorer will have to lead them to Wembley.
This season, he has assisted on 21 goals and 13 assists for 34 league goals. In November, he scored the game-winning goal at St. Mary’s against the Baggies.
Armstrong, who signed in the summer of 2022, has emerged as the Saints’ most impressive offensive player thus far this year.
The Hawthorns in West Bromwich will host the first leg of the Championship Playoff Semi-Final.
Kickoff is on Sunday, May 12, 2024, at 14:15 BST.
The game can be seen live in the UK starting at 14:00 on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football.
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