Lewis Cox previews West Brom's Championship clash with Sunderland

Express & Star

Lewis Cox brings you all the latest from Tony Mowbray's pre-match press conference ahead of Albion's clash with Sunderland. Albion go into the last seven games looking to secure a play-off spot in a tightly bunched race.

Transcript

00:00Baggies fans, good afternoon, Albion reporter Lewis Cox here. We've just finished up with

00:05Tony Mowbray here at Albion's training HQ in his pre-Sunderland press conference ahead

00:09of Saturday lunchtime's visit of the Blackcats. We know what time and stage of the season

00:14it is, don't we? It's the run-in. It's now that matters for every team really with something

00:20to fight for, be it the top-bottom play-offs and the latter there is what Albion are of

00:24course pushing for, striving for. It's six against four in the Championship, the visitors,

00:30Sunderland fourth. As well, they have been for much of the season, to be honest. Beyond

00:34the top three everyone knows about, they've been best of the rest, haven't they? Regis

00:37Le Bris side. Pretty good effort for the French coach's first season in English football and

00:43it's up to Albion and Mowbray, as I say, to try and put the brakes on them on Saturday.

00:48Obviously, as I say, one of Mowbray's former clubs. He left there December 2023, I think

00:54it was, so a little year and a half ago or so. He had about a year and a half there up

00:59at the stadium, did Mowbray. Obviously, got them into the play-offs but lost on that occasion

01:05to Luton, didn't they, when the Hatters went up. Anyway, in the here and now, it's... Look,

01:09I was going to say it's an important game for Albion but they're all big games at this

01:13stage of the season, aren't they? Really, it's a cliche but they are. It's a three-game

01:18week, it starts a three-game week, we know that. Most of the games to come, if not all

01:23of them really, are against pretty direct rivals. You look at Sunderland's case, as

01:27I mentioned, they're fourth, some way, clearer of Albion, really. They trail third and they're

01:34clearer fifth by such a margin. It feels like it doesn't matter too much what Sunderland

01:39do between now and the end of the season in the handful or so games left. It will be interesting

01:44to see how they visit from the north-east, how they set up, how they go but we know the

01:50script really with Albion, don't we? And certainly off the back of disappointment at

01:53Carroll Road last week against Norwich, that last gasp, winning goal for Josh Sargent and

01:59the hosts last week. Albion shouldn't be losing that game, we know that. It was the same old

02:03story, wasn't it? Coming back from Norfolk, where are the goals? Are there going to be

02:08enough goals to get Albion over the line? How can they unlock the forward department,

02:14the strikers? The obvious one is Adam Armstrong but it's not just him, it can't be all him

02:18and that's actually a big thing, a big part of what Mowbray said in his press conference

02:22here. There are questions obviously about Adam Armstrong but it's not all on the South

02:27ampton lone front man, of course it isn't. Yes, he would have liked more goals, Albion

02:32would have liked more goals, Albion would have liked more points and wins under Mowbray

02:35but for that to happen, they need to create more chances and really spread the goals around

02:41more players, other forwards, wide players. Mowbray's gone through the whole team, really.

02:46Everyone needs to chip in and that's just how it is. It's up to the head coach and his

02:50staff obviously to facilitate that, to find the system or formation that is going to help

02:54that because at the moment, I just had a look because one of the things Mowbray said actually

02:58is that he sees play-off sides gunning for the play-offs or better. He needs 70 goals

03:03in a league season and he said Albion are miles off that and it's got 48 goals in the

03:08league, Albion, so it says everything, doesn't it? But look, time to maybe stop being negative

03:13as we still stand here, they're 6th in the table and that's after all the inconsistencies

03:18of no away wins, no back-to-back wins, they're still 6th and they're with games against rivals

03:23as I mentioned, Sunderland 4th. Then Tuesday, Albion go up to Bristol City who are right

03:28there, level on points with the baggies, aren't they? Then Watford, I think 9th or 10th at

03:32the Hawthorns the following weekend, obviously big, big one against Coventry to come on.

03:37Good Friday that one, isn't it Dan, in Coventry and they're 5th at the minute so huge games

03:42ahead. Not too much to bring you on the team news really on availability updates, we've

03:46got obviously a fairly big one in Darnell Furlong being back from suspension, the right

03:50back has missed the last three games, hasn't he, after that red card a little while ago

03:54so it's a positive to have Furlong back without question, that's a boost. Fitness-wise otherwise

04:00it's a bit of as you were really, obviously the long-term absentee, Sorry in your Wallace,

04:06your Ajayi, your Maggia, still out. Isaac Price has trained in full, obviously he was

04:10sort of rested last week off the back of Northern Ireland duty with his sort of sore

04:16tight calf, he was overused really in Northern Ireland friendly duty but he's okay to play

04:22and that's that really in terms of the availability updates. Plenty else to bring you otherwise

04:27before Saturday lunchtime's game, obviously Mowbray said a few things about his time at

04:32the Stadium of Light and one or two other things, I mean the main agenda and script

04:37at the moment feels to be that final third doesn't it, it's certainly the area Albion

04:41need to unlock but as I said at the top it's down to across the squad really isn't it,

04:45it can't be focused on one player or even one area, it's something I think the whole

04:49group have to solve so obviously keep an eye out for all the preview stuff in the usual

04:53places, the team news stuff in written, I mentioned there my predicted side, everything

05:00else from the Albion head coach ahead of that clash and obviously we'll be at the Hawthorns

05:03myself and Johnny on Saturday so keep an eye out for the coverage, pre and post-match

05:08and yeah huge one as they all are at this stage of the season, stay tuned to expressonstar.com

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