West Bromwich Albion

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Millwall will seek to bounce back from their 4-0 mauling against Coventry on Wednesday as West Brom head to South London on Saturday (15:00 BST).

Though the Lions remain unbeaten in four games on the road, the defeat to the Sky Blues was a third in four on home soil, a run during which they have scored one goal and conceded nine.

They lie 12th ahead of the visit of the fourth-placed Baggies, three points ahead in a congested Championship table.

Albion ended an iffy run of one win in five with Wednesday's 1-0 victory at Norwich, which made it three wins from their four away games, only going down at table-topping Middlesbrough so far.

Ryan Mason's men have failed to score more than one goal in seven of their eight matches, though have conceded just seven goals, with three clean sheets, two of them on the road.

• Each of the past five league games between Millwall and West Brom have finished in draws, with the last two at The Den finishing 1-1.

• Since September 1987, West Brom have won just one of their 13 away league games against Millwall (D4 L8), a 2-0 victory in February 2020.

• The last five league meetings between Millwall and West Brom have seen a total of just four goals scored (two each), although all four of those have been scored in games at The Den.

• West Brom are unbeaten in their past five away games against London-based sides in the Championship (W2 D3), after losing five in a row beforehand.

• West Brom are the opponent that Alex Neil has faced the most times as a manager in the Championship without ever winning (seven games – D1 L6).

West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper Josh Griffiths says he played his best game for the Baggies in the 1-0 win at Norwich City on Wednesday.

The 24-year-old put in a player-of-the-match performance making four saves and keeping a clean sheet.

"In a West Brom shirt, [it was my] best game," Griffiths told BBC Radio WM.

"Tonight people could argue maybe we didn't [deserve to win] but it's an honest group. We work so hard and to hold on, to come away [with three points] that gives us massive confidence."

Griffiths signed for the Baggies in the summer of 2020 but has been on loan at Cheltenham Town, Lincoln City, Portsmouth and Bristol Rovers since. Having returned to the West Midlands in February, he has started every league game this season, keeping three clean sheets.

"It's the best dressing room I've been in in terms of just having good, honest lads. Everyone works hard for each other, everyone gets along," Griffiths said.

Having waited patiently for a chance at the number one goalkeeper spot at West Brom, it is a big season for Griffiths as he seeks to prove he deserves it.

"I'm my own harshest critic. I want to do as best I can and it's nice to be playing at the moment," he said.

"I've got that belief in myself that I can really make the shirt mine and have a great year."

As long as he is in between the sticks, Griffiths is keen to continue contributing as his side get back to winning ways. The Baggies had failed to win in their past three matches prior to the victory at Norwich.

"We hadn't won for a while - Stoke was our last win so to get that feeling back is good. Albeit performances haven't been bad it's just we've fallen on the wrong side of results," Griffiths said.

West Bromwich Albion will next take on Millwall in the Championship on Saturday (15:00 BST).

Listen to the full interview with Josh Griffiths and more Albion on Sounds.

West Bromwich Albion are back in the Championship play-off places after beating Norwich City 1-0 on Wednesday night.

Striker Josh Maja scored his first goal of the season in the 20th minute before Albion fought to hold on to three points and go fourth in the table.

"[It was an] amazing effort to keep a clean sheet on the road, which is not easy to do and we had to suffer, we really had to suffer," Albion head coach Ryan Mason told BBC Radio WM.

"There was a real togetherness, a real fighting spirit to see out the game."

Maja played for 60 minutes having been unable to play more than 20 minutes in his six other appearances this season. The 26-year-old has been returning from a calf injury sustained in January.

"Josh has worked really hard - we've been patient with him. His work-rate is impressive," Mason said.

At the other end of the pitch, goalkeeper Josh Griffiths produced some vital saves to secure a clean sheet at Carrow Road, as West Brom faced 16 shots from their hosts, five of which were on target.

"We had to ride our luck, had to have people produce big moments to keep the clean sheet," Mason said.

"Especially away from home sometimes you need your keeper to produce a moment and he had a couple tonight."

With victory at Norwich being Albion's first since August, Mason is looking to build a winning run as his side are yet to claim back-to-back wins this season.

"When you win in the nature that we just did and you have to suffer. It fuels you and we need to chase that feeling again Saturday because it's going to be another tough game," he said.

The Baggies will visit Millwall on Saturday (15:00 BST) as they seek to climb the Championship table.

Listen to the full interview with Ryan Mason and more Albion on Sounds.

West Bromwich Albion boss Ryan Mason says he "loves" his group of players.

Mason's side travel to Carrow Road on Wednesday to face Norwich, having started the Championship season with three wins, two draws and two defeats.

They conceded a stoppage-time equaliser to draw with Leicester City in their most recent game.

"I love my group of players, I believe in them, I believe in what we're doing," Mason told BBC Radio WM.

"We're in a good place and we really trust what we're doing inside this football club and I'm sure the results are going to come with it.

"We got some results early which can accelerate that but then also the other night walking off the pitch having drew the game, the feeling was that we were the superior team and that's also important."

The Baggies face a Norwich side that have struggled at home, having not won on their own turf so far this season, while Albion have picked up two of their three wins on the road.

"I wasn't aware of it and I don't really care about that stat to be honest," Mason added. "It's a new game, it's a new challenge, they're going to be prepared, they've got a really good manager, a good squad of players.

"I've played there, it's a tough place to go, we know it's going to be a big challenge for us, but as always we believe in ourselves."

Listen to the full interview and more on BBC Sounds.

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Norwich City host Ryan Mason's West Bromwich Albion on Wednesday (19:45 BST), with the home side winless at home so far this season and having failed to pick up three points since the end of August in a 2-0 away victory against Blackburn Rovers.

The Baggies also come into this one without a win in September following a 1-1 draw with Leicester City last time out.

Canaries boss Liam Manning has already said defender Lucien Mahovo is in contention to play following a string of injuries that have kept him out of the Championship team since February.

• Norwich are looking to win successive league meetings with West Brom for the first time since 2013 in the Premier League.

• West Brom have lost both of their past two league visits to Norwich, only ever losing three in a row in February 1977.

• Norwich have lost all three of their home league games this season but have never started a league campaign with four successive home defeats before in their history.

• West Brom have won two of their three away league games this season (L1), more than their final 20 last season (W1 D11 L8).

• West Brom are winless in their past seven midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) away league games (D4 L3) since a 3-0 victory at Plymouth in February 2024.

Image source, PA Media

West Bromwich Albion boss Ryan Mason spoke to BBC WM after his side drew 1-1 with Leicester City at The Hawthorns.

"It's disappointing – we deserved to win the game. We did more than enough to win the game, so we are hurting.

"The performance deserved so much more. The lads played incredibly well.

"It's clear we created enough chances to win the game, and 1-0 is a dangerous scoreline.

"I can't fault the lads' effort, I can't fault the lads' quality – we had so much personality and I thought we played an extremely good game against a really good side, and we were the better team and should have won the game.

"It's something we have to improve on if we want to be successful in this league. Of course you need to take those opportunities, you need to kill the game off, and we were made to pay for it."

West Bromwich Albion will look to avoid a second consecutive loss at the Hawthorns when they host Leicester City on Friday night (20:00 BST).

The Baggies have proven to be a difficult customer on home ground over recent years but fell to Derby County in their last home match before conceding defeat again on the road against league leaders Middlesbrough.

But for Leicester, winning in West Bromwich hasn't been so difficult and they will be hungry for three points after two successive draws sees them one point outside the automatic promotion spots.

• West Bromwich Albion have lost each of their last five league matches against Leicester City, a run that stretches back to March 2018.

• Leicester have won their last six away league games against West Brom, with each win coming under a different manager (Pearson, Ranieri, Shakespeare, Puel, Rodgers, Maresca).

• West Brom lost their last home league game 1-0 against Derby, last losing consecutive league matches at the Hawthorns in October 2022.

• No Championship side have won more points from losing positions this season so far than Leicester (4), coming from behind to beat Sheffield Wednesday and draw with Oxford.

• Leicester have had the highest proportion of their total shots hit the target in the Championship this season (43%), ranking 12th for overall shots (77) but second for shots on target (33).

Image source, Getty Images

West Bromwich Albion boss Ryan Mason has been speaking to the media before hosting Midlands rivals Leicester City on Friday (20:00 BST).

Here are the key lines:

• There is no new injury updates from their 2-1 defeat at Middlesbrough last Friday.

• Mason is "disappointed" by the past two results after two losses has left them outside the top six but says the side "worked well this week" and are hoping to stop the rot against the Foxes.

• On Leicester's Harry Winks, who Mason worked with while at former club Tottenham Hotspur: "When you're academy player and someone has walked the steps you want to take, it's something you aspire to. I have a really good relationship with Harry, I have had a good relationship with Skippy [Oliver Skipp, also a former Spurs player] too.

• "They've both had really good careers to play for Tottenham, it's not an easy thing to do. Now they are at Leicester and I'm sure they are determined to put in a performance and hopefully our players will put in a performance to overshadow that."

• Mason confirmed that strikers Josh Maja and Aune Heggbo could potentially both start "at some point" having largely favoured only one striker this term.

• He said: "They've got different attributes, currently they are only fit strikers so that comes into the thinking as well. Josh has a massive part to play in this team for the whole of this season and we are looking forward to it when he does."

"People say that [v Swansea in the 1993 Second Division play-off semi-final] was one of the greatest games at The Hawthorns.

"We were all desperate to go to Wembley but the thing was, there was a really calm around the training ground... Ossie [Ardiles] was good at taking away the pressure and keeping us focused."

Former West Bromwich Albion striker Andy Hunt recounts his time at the Baggies, his partnership with Bob Taylor and the side's promotion run to the First Division in 1993.

Listen to the full interview with Hunt and more West Bromwich Albion content on BBC Sounds.

A potential move to take the Championship play-offs down to eighth place would damage the competition's credibility, according to former Huddersfield, Stoke and Middlesbrough defender Tommy Smith.

The EFL board is set to discuss proposals to increase the number of teams in the end-of-season play-offs from four to six but Smith, who was promoted to the Premier League with Huddersfield via the play-offs in 2017 is not a fan of the idea.

"It's not for me - I think it suits teams who don't really have a chance to get in the top six," he told the BBC's EFL podcast 72+.

"From a credibility point of view the top six is there to be aimed at and you have to earn your place in it."

The play-offs were first introduced for the 1986-87 season where sides finishing third down to fifth were involved along with the team third-from-bottom in the top flight.

After two seasons the format was changed to be played out between teams finishing third to sixth in the second tier.

"To finish eighth in the Championship and potentially get promoted to the Premier League it just doesn't sit right with me," added Smith.

"Notoriously over the past years getting into the top six is tough and when you get in there after a long hard season it feels brilliant, so to make it a top eight it dilutes it."

Image source, Rex Features

West Bromwich Albion head coach Ryan Mason says it was 'small details' that made the difference in his side's narrow loss away to Middlesbrough.

A goal conceded from a set-piece in the first half and then one in the second after Albion's best spell of the game left then with too much to do, despite a late consolation from Norway striker Aune Heggebo.

"A disappointing result. The small details dictated how the game went," Mason told BBC WM.

"Their goal from a set-play was disappointing, I didn't feel like they created a great deal but they scored at good times and made it tough for us to break them down."

It now means that West Brom have lost their last two games, having opened the season with 10 points from a possible 12, with Mason insisting there are things that needed to be ironed out on the training pitch.

"The second half, we showed a little more belief, a little bit more directness and we created opportunities so it's a disappointing result," said the Albion head coach.

"We need to respond and we have another training week to improve and hopefully turn it around."

West Bromwich Albion defender Chris Mepham says promotion to the Premier League is a "big reason" why he joined the club last month.

The 27-year-old arrived on a three-year deal from Bournemouth for an undisclosed fee after spending last season on loan at Sunderland.

"That feeling of winning games and playing for something is what I really care about as a footballer and you want to feel like you are part of something," the defender told BBC WM.

"The conversations I've had with the boss and looking at the squad from a distance, I feel that this is a club that has underachieved in the past, but there is no reason we can't go and get promoted this year."

The Wales international was part of the Sunderland side that won promotion through the play-offs last season, something Mepham believes he can achieve again this time around.

"I think as a project, this seems similar to what I got pitched last season. A lot of similarities but there is a lot more experience in this team, which is something that you need in this league."

West Bromwich Albion forward Josh Maja could feature in the starting line-up in Friday's Championship match against league leaders Middlesbrough (20:00 BST).

The Nigeria international has only played 16 minutes across three league games so far this season as he makes his comeback from a long-term calf injury.

"I think he's fit enough. He had a very long time out injured and it's about picking the right time for him to get in and stay in," Baggies boss Ryan Mason told BBC Radio WM.

"Every training day at the moment he's progressing, he's getting stronger, he's getting quicker, so that's good news for us."

Defender Krystian Bielik has also returned to training, with forwards Daryl Dike and Tammer Bany getting "closer" in their bid for full fitness.

Karlan Grant, however, is still being assessed and is likely to have a longer wait for his return.

Meanwhile, right-back Alex Williams has picked up a "severe" ankle injury while away with Wales Under-21s that required surgery and will rule him out until the New Year.

"The game before the international break against Stoke, he came on, so to have that injury a few days afterwards on international duty is disappointing," Mason added.

The Championship weekend kicks-off on Friday night with arguably the game of the weekend.

Early pace-setters Middlesbrough welcome fifth-placed West Brom to the Riverside (20:00 BST), with the Baggies having seen their unbeaten start under Ryan Mason ended by Derby at The Hawthorns last time out.

Boro's perfect start under Rob Edwards was halted by a 2-2 draw at Preston last weekend meaning both sides will be keen to get back to winning ways on Teesside.

• Middlesbrough have won each of their past three league meetings with West Bromwich Albion without conceding, last winning four in a row versus the Baggies between 1994 and 1997.

• West Bromwich Albion have only won on one of their past seven league trips to Middlesbrough (D2 L4), winning 1-0 under Slaven Bilic in October 2019 through a Hal Robson-Kanu goal.

• Middlesbrough have picked up 13 points in five Championship games so far this season (W4 D1) – only two of the past 10 teams with 13+ points at this stage have then been promoted: Leeds United in 2019-20 and Fulham in 2021-22.

• West Bromwich Albion have won their past two away Championship matches, more than they won in their previous 20 on the road (W1 D11 L8). The last time the Baggies won three away in a row was their first three away games of 2024-25.

• Middlesbrough's Matt Targett has been involved in a goal in each of his two Championship games so far for the club (1 goal, 1 assist). Targett has ended on the winning side in 69.6% of his Championship appearances (16/23), the 10th best ratio of any player to make 20+ appearances since 2004-05.

Image source, Getty Images

West Bromwich Albion have named sporting director Andrew Nestor as the club's new president.

Nestor, who was appointed to his current role last summer, will now be responsible for "all club functions" as he combines both jobs in a restructured leadership team.

The Baggies have also appointed chief operating officer of owners Bilkul Football Group - Ashish Patel - chief marketing officer and Ethan Gobetz as chief financial officer in the new set-up.

Nestor, a former director at Italian side Bologna and president, chief executive and general manager of the Tampa Bay Rowdies, is CEO of Bilkul and was involved with owner Shilen Patel's takeover of Albion in February 2024.

He was also a key figure in the recruitment of current head coach Ryan Mason in June.

"Andrew has led significant organisational change across our sporting department through achieving better alignment, increased emphasis on analytic and data-led approaches, and improvements to squad value whilst substantially benefitting club finances," Patel said in a statement., external

The owner added he was "more excited by the future than ever" with Nestor more involved and looked forward to him delivering "the positive culture he has grown within [the] sporting [department] to the whole business".

Former West Bromwich Albion defender Curtis Davies says the Baggies' experienced summer signings have been "key" to boss Ryan Mason's early success in his first permanent managerial appointment.

Defenders Chris Mepham, 27, and Nat Phillips, 28, from Liverpool were among Albion's close-season recruits.

And Davies, who played alongside Mason at Hull City in 2016-17, says it was the duo's leadership skills that appealed to the young head coach.

"The signings they've made, I think that's key when particularly you have a young manager," Davies told BBC Radio WM.

"I spoke to Mason in the summer, spoke about the environment, spoke about making sure you've got people in there that can help the changing room and they can almost self-govern it.

"With recruitment now, a lot of people are looking at 'he's done this, done that, he's got resale value' but actually there is a level of that leadership, like Mepham, like Phillips, what they can bring to the group, that is invaluable. You can't put a stat on that."

Listen to Davies' thoughts and more West Bromwich Albion content on BBC Sounds.

"With the Victorian themed activities, it's like the Black Country Museum gone on tour."

Relive the 125th anniversary celebrations of The Hawthorns on Saturday as a brass band welcomes Baggies legend Tony 'Bomber' Brown to present the match ball.

Listen to the scenes with BBC Radio WM's Steve Hermon and more West Bromwich Albion content on BBC Sounds.

Chris Latchem
BBC Final Score reporter

Image source, Getty Images

West Brom did almost everything right on Saturday, like a police force perfectly lining up a home raid, only to forget the battering ram.

There is so much to like about the new-look Baggies under Ryan Mason this season.

The three behind the striker has a blend of skill, poise and experience. They move so well and create good chances - but they need that striker to put the ball in the net.

Aune Heggebo has had a tough start at The Hawthorns; he's only had five shots in five Championship games, with just one on target.

The Baggies fans clearly like him, and will hope he takes confidence from his recent international call-up with Norway, who banged 11 past Moldova.

While no one is expecting a Smethwick Erling Haaland, the Baggies will know promotion hopes from this sticky league usually hang on a striker that can deliver the goods.

West Bromwich Albion boss Ryan Mason talks to BBC Radio WM after his side is beaten 1-0 by Derby County.

"I think anyone watching the game will say we didn't deserve to lose it when conceding your first shot on target in the 84th minute.

"It's tough to take, but we accept it and have to move on. It won't take away from the fact that it was a really good performance. I thought we had so much control in the game, especially in the first half when we created numerous chances.

"It just didn't really go our way today, which happens. But it was a positive performance.

"Obviously I'm hurting at the moment, and the players are, because we lost a game of football that we certainly didn't deserve to lose."