West Bromwich Albion

Image source, Rex Features

West Bromwich Albion have Grady Diangana back in contention to play against Bristol City on Sunday after missing six games with a calf problem.

The 26-year-old ex-West Ham United winger scored seven times last season and made eight assists as the Baggies reached the Championship play-offs.

But niggling injuries have kept him out of nine of Albion's 21 league games this season - including only six starts.

With five games in 13 days coming up over the festive period, boss Carlos Corberan knows his squad will be fully tested - and wants last season's version of Diangana back.

"Last year Grady was one of our most important players, especially in the last third, with his goal involvement" Corberan told BBC Radio WM.

"He started with a shoulder injury in pre-season and has not had the consistency he needs.

"He has trained this week. Two physical days, two football days. If his reaction is positive, touch wood, hopefully he will be ready for Sunday."

Albion must make one change on the left side as Callum Styles sustained a hamstring issue in Sunday's 2-1 defeat at Watford, but Corberan hopes Diangana's potential return can help the positive Hawthorns momentum going.

Having been top in late September, Albion have slumped to eighth, 13 points off the pace, having won just twice in 15 games - but 10 were draws. And they have at least rediscovered where the goals are at home.

After scoring just two goals in their first seven league games this season, they have now netted twice in each of their three most recent matches at The Hawthorns - 2-2 draws against both Norwich City and Sheffield United and then the fortuitous 2-0 home win over Coventry City.

Bristol City are five points behind the Baggies going into the final round of fixtures this side of Christmas and start the weekend in 11th place.

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Amid speculation West Bromwich Albion boss Carlos Corberan could take up the vacant managerial position at Southampton after Russell Martin's departure, many Baggies fans are beginning to wonder if the rest of the season will be without the Spaniard at the helm.

Speaking to BBC Radio WM, one Albion fan acknowledged Corberan's success but felt it was time to call it quits, while another fan thought the suggestion that the 41-year-old should leave was "a wind-up".

Former Albion midfielder Marc Albrighton, however, agreed that a move south could be mutually beneficial for both parties.

"If he's still there come the end of the season, I don't see West Brom getting into the play-offs," Albrighton told BBC Radio WM.

"He's had a while there, he's done fantastically well but he's had two or three opportunities to get them out the league.

"Maybe something fresh, maybe something new, maybe new ideas for the players that are currently there could be what it needs."

Listen to the West Midlands Football Phone-In every weeknight at 18:00 on BBC Radio WM

After seeing their dozen-match unbeaten streak ended with defeat at Watford last Sunday, West Brom will seek to start a new one when Bristol City visit The Hawthorns this Sunday.

The Baggies could find themselves five points adrift of the play-off places come kick-off while the Robins start the weekend eight places but only five points ahead of 19th-placed Luton.

• West Brom have lost just one of their past eight league games against Bristol City (W5 D2), with each of those five victories coming via a two-goal margin or more.

• Bristol City have lost seven of their past nine away league games against West Brom (W1 D1), conceding an average of 2.7 goals per match across that time.

• West Brom have scored just eight goals across their 10 home league games in the Championship so far this season – the fewest of any side in the competition.

• Bristol City have failed to win any of their last three league games (D2 L1) and could go four without victory for the first time since March 2024 when they lost four matches in succession.

• West Brom's Tom Fellows has recorded seven assists in the Championship so far this season, with only Middlesbrough's Finn Azaz (8) managing more in the competition.

Commentators spend hours and hours preparing for each match they cover, writing pages upon pages of notes in order to be prepared as well as possible.

But what happens if those notes suddenly vanish?

"It's never a good idea to go into a commentary under-prepped, but it can be dropped on you," BBC Radio 5 Live's Alistair Bruce-Ball told the latest episode of The Commentators' View podcast.

"I remember a few seasons ago at West Brom for the opening game of the season. it was a lovely sunny day and I was sitting in the commentary position there with all my notes in front of me.

"Then, a gust of wind took the notes off the gantry, down into the fans below, and all the notes I'd done all week for the game had completely gone. I was just doing the commentary without any notes at all! Actually, it sharpens you up in a way, and you've really got to switch on - you've not got that crutch to lean on."

"That happened to John Acres last week," said fellow commentator Conor McNamara. "I was at the Manchester United-Nottingham Forest game, which he was doing for 5 Live, and it was very stormy.

"So when he got out of the car in the car park, apparently his notes fell from his hand, and in that classic if you've got buttered toast it's always the buttered side that lands down way…

"So whatever way he'd been doing his notes in the car, when he got out of the car, the wind blew, it turned onto the inked side and landed face down. It totally smudged.

"He showed it to me - totally indecipherable!"

As the two reflected on shared pain, Bruce-Ball suddenly remembered what exactly happened at West Brom: "t wasn't a gust of wind, it was a wasp that flew into my mouth while I was talking, and I panicked and swished my hand at the notes.

"So, I actually flipped my notes, and honestly just watching them fly in the air and just disappear. I can't remember who the summariser was sitting alongside me, and we both just looked at each other like… eek!"

Listen to the full episode now

There's a big battle in the race for the top-six on Sunday afternoon as West Bromwich Albion visit Vicarage Road to face Watford.

The Baggies climbed above the Hornets on Wednesday night courtesy of their 2-0 win over Coventry, which made it 12 games unbeaten, albeit 10 of those being draws.

Watford salvaged a point at bottom side Hull but remain unbeaten at home with 23 points from nine games, and just four goals conceded.

• Watford are unbeaten in their past seven league games against West Brom (W3 D4), with both matches between the pair last season ending in 2-2 draws.

• West Brom have not won any of their past six away league games against Watford (D3 L3), having won on each of their prior three trips between September 2001 and November 2007.

• Watford are unbeaten in their past 13 league games at Vicarage Road (W8 D5), keeping a clean sheet in eight of those games, including all the past four.

• West Brom have lost fewer Championship away games than any other side this season (W4 D5 L1), with five of their past six such games ending in a draw (W1), as many as in their previous 23 (W9 L9).

• Tom Fellows has assisted six away Championship goals for West Bromwich Albion this season, with those six assists coming for just two players – four for Josh Maja and two for Karlan Grant.

Image source, PRESSBOX GRAPHICS

If you remember doing the football pools and having to select games you think would end in a draw then West Bromwich Albion would be first on your list.

The Baggies are unbeaten in their past 11 Championship games but 10 of those have been drawn.

Coventry City are looking to go three league games unbeaten for only the second time this season.

• West Brom have won each of their past three league games against Coventry City and have lost just one of their past eight matches overall (W5 D2).

• Coventry City have won just one of their past 12 away league games against West Brom (D3 L8), conceding more than five goals in two different matches during that time.

• West Brom have both failed to win (D3 L1) and failed to score in each of their past four midweek league games (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) since a 2-0 win over Rotherham United in April earlier this year.

• Coventry City manager Frank Lampard is unbeaten in three league meetings with West Brom (W2 D1), winning both of those which have come in the Championship (4-1 away and 3-1 at home in the 2018-19 campaign, in charge of Derby County).

• Coventry have lost both of their past two league games against fellow sides from the West Midlands, and could lose three such matches in succession for the first time since a run of four defeats in November 2007.

Image source, Getty Images

New Coventry City boss Frank Lampard is very keen not to get too excited about his encouraging unbeaten start with the Sky Blues as he prepares for a second tough away game in five days.

Following on from Saturday's 1-0 win at Millwall, City take on a West Bromwich Albion side who are perhaps in a false place in eighth in the table.

Lampard warned: "We need to not get too far ahead of ourselves because it's one win and there's a lot of work to do.

"We'll prep for the game on Wednesday. That's the rigours of the Championship for you, so we'll have to deal with it."

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder described Albion as the toughest opposition his side have faced this season following Sunday's 2-2 draw.

But, having been top in September before embarking on a run of just one win in 13 games, of which a remarkable 10 have been draws, the Baggies' main problem is scoring goals - just six in nine home games.

Albion were also battling for promotion when Lampard made his only previous visit there as a Championship manager with Derby County in October 2018.

It was only his 14th league game in management - and his largely young Rams side had only previously won five of them. But, although admittedly he had talent of the calibre of Tom Huddlestone, Fikayo Tomori, Jayden Bogle, Mason Mount, David Nugent, Tom Lawrence and Harry Wilson at his disposal, it was a night when Lampard's Derby clicked into gear.

They were two up inside 15 minutes and then ran rings round Darren Moore's Baggies before ultimately running out 4-1 winners.

On a ground where City have managed just one point and one goal (Haji Wright's penalty last season) and have lost on three of their past four visits, they have not won at The Hawthorns since Leon Best and Michael Mifsud each netted twice in a 4-2 victory in December 2007.

They would love another four goals away from home on Wednesday night. But on a ground where there have so far this season been just 11 scored by either team (and eight of those have come in two 2-2 draws in successive home games), it would seem rather unlikely.

Image source, Rex Features

West Bromwich Albion defender Torbjorn Heggem experienced the highs and lows of being a Baggie all in one afternoon as his side had to settle for a point against Championship leaders Sheffield United.

The big Norwegian felt the exhilaration of scoring his first goal for the club, watched by some visiting friends over from Scandinavia.

"I had some friends over from Norway watching. It was a great game, four goals and they saw me score too," he told BBC Radio WM. "I love the support I get from the Albion fans so it was good to score and give them something back. A great feeling.

"I have felt closer and closer to my first goal and it was really good to get it from a set piece - one of the things we'd been working on. It was a great delivery and I was happy with the finish."

But, within 13 minutes of putting Albion ahead, two quickfire goals by the Blades before half-time put them in front - and, for all their overall attacking threat, the Baggies only earned a point in the end when Tom Fellows' cross was fortuitously deflected in.

"We were really good for the first 30 minutes," Heggem added. "We were trying to press them high. We were really trying and digging deep to get three points. But they punished us.

"And it is frustrating. We are drawing too many matches. We need to win games."

Albion's 10th draw in 11 games has left the September leaders eighth in the Championship and 10 points adrift of top spot going into Wednesday night's Midlands derby against Coventry City.

Torbjorn Heggem was talking to BBC Radio WM's Steve Hermon

Image source, Rex Features

West Bromwich Albion boss Carlos Corberan says he has a "special group of players" despite the Baggies' bizarre capacity to keep drawing games this season instead of winning them.

Albion drew for the 10th time in their past 11 games on Sunday at an extremely wintry Hawthorns as they took the lead against Sheffield United, lost that advantage to trail 2-1, then fought back to finish 2-2, a seventh draw in this term's nine unbeaten home matches.

Having led the table in mid-September, Albion's extraordinary sequence of Xs on the pools coupon is part of an overall run of just one win in 13 games which has dropped them to eighth in the Championship, 10 points off top spot, now taken up again by the Blades.

After three successive home goalless draws, to make four in total at The Hawthorns this season, the Baggies have at least started finding the net, having also drawn 2-2 against Norwich City.

But, starting with this Wednesday night's home game against Frank Lampard's Coventry City, based especially on the quality Albion showed over the first half hour against Sheffield United, head coach Corberan still believes his players can turn those draws into wins - by battling back from setbacks and not making excuses.

"When results are not good it can be difficult to believe in the coach," he said. "When they are good, they think you are a genius.

"This group of players have something which is special. They do not find excuses.

"Since I came to this club two years ago we have faced difficulties, but this team have never stopped fighting.

"This year, with limitations, we are competing a lot. When things are not working well the easy way is to find an excuse. But, in the difficult moments, we are not making excuses. Some of these players have big personalities to keep growing and use the difficult moments to improve."

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West Bromwich Albion manager Carlos Corberan has praised defender Torbjorn Heggem for the way that he has quickly adapted to playing in the Championship.

The 25-year-old Norway international has made 18 Championship appearances since joining the club from Swedish side IF Brommapojkarna in July.

"His level of attention has been extraordinary from first moment" Corberan told BBC Radio WM.

"He arrived to pre-season without a holiday period. Probably [that] helped him to have more of the tempo."

Heggem's recent good form for Albion - including as a left-back and a left-sided centre-back - helped earn him his debut for Norway in October.

"His mentality has been excellent, his open mind to take every single idea, and after his skills to move everything to the pitch," Corberan added.

Albion, who sit seventh in the table, host league leaders Sheffield United on Saturday.

Image source, Getty Images

It is one of the most eagerly anticipated dates in the football calendar as Premier League and Championship clubs join the FA Cup action from round three.

The draw will take place on Monday, 2 December from 19:00 GMT and can be watched live on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.