Pennant wants another win in the Bag

When West Brom returned to the Premier League as expected last May in their typical ‘Boing Boing’ fashion, the only people more happy than them were the fans of Stoke City.

Unfortunately for the Baggies history does not lie and with only one win in the last 25 league games against their Midlands rivals, Stoke’s famous chant of “We always beat West Brom” certainly has some justification. The Potters have won six of the last seven meetings.

Buoyed by back-to-back impressive home wins over Birmingham and Liverpool respectively, the Potters are looking for their third successive victory when they visit the Hawthorns. One positive for the Baggies ahead of the visit of their bogey side is that Stoke have not recorded three wins in a row since returning to the top flight in 2007.

On-loan Stoke winger Jermaine Pennant has rediscovered his form since joining from Real Zaragoza in August and he is keen for his new teammates to keep their unbeaten run going: “People have mentioned the record between the two sides but we won’t look too much in to that. For us it’s just about making sure we continue what we have been doing recently and then we are capable of picking up another three points.”

The former England U21 international has also reiterated his desire to make his move to the Potteries a permanent one: “I'm enjoying the way things have been going, living in the area, the team and everything. Tony Pulis has given me a platform to show what I can do; he does say his wingers work the hardest of any in the league and they do but if it helps the team that's what I'm here to do.”

Manager Tony Pulis will definitely want to hold on to Pennant should he continue to terrorise Premier League fullbacks.

One man that could be in for a busy afternoon dealing with Pennant’s crosses into the box is Baggies captain Scott Carson. The stopper was once a target for Stoke three seasons ago but as he lines up against them he believes his West Brom side can finally break their City hoodoo and get back to winning ways in front of their own fans: “It’s another big game on Saturday and another tough team to play against. It’s one point out of four games, which isn’t as well as we have been doing, but we have still got 16 points on the board and a lot of games to play starting Saturday.

We’re definitely not dropping our heads or getting too disappointed because there are a still a lot of games we think we can win,” he added.

Carson will also be keen to make amends for the last time the sides met before the baggies were relegated. The England keeper was at fault for Stoke’s opener in a 2-0 loss at the Hawthorns allowing Ricardo Fuller’s weak effeort to slip underneath him. He could have done little about the Potters’ second goal though, a thunderbolt of a half-volley from James Beattie sealed Stoke’s first ever away win in the premier league three seasons ago.

This season has seen West Brom’s notorious ‘yo-yo’ form continue with nobody at all able to second guess which Baggies side will turn up – the one that tamely lost 1-0 at Wigan last time out or the one that fought back in impressive style to claim a point at Old Trafford. The Baggies most notable performance though was certainly their 3-2 victory at the Emirates in September.

Despite succumbing to Manchester City and a Mario Balotelli brace in their last home game, the Baggies home form has been impressive this season under Roberto Di Matteo with three victories and two draws to their name before defeat to Man City.

Albion has always received accolades for the way they try to play football but in the past, certainly under Tony Mowbray they struggled to find an end product against Premier League defences. Often the Baggies have been mocked in the Potteries and referred to as ‘West Brazil’ due to their ineffective pretty football in contrast to Stoke’s direct approach.

Optimism will undoubtedly be high in the Stoke camp as they make the short journey to the West Midlands, but former Stoke boss Lou Macari who unsurprisingly never tasted defeat against West Brom in his six-year tenure has warned the players and fans alike not to get complacent: “Sometimes there is such a thing as lucky opposition and lucky grounds. But a word of warning - Albion do seem to be a bit more resilient these days and I saw that for myself when they came from 2-0 down to draw at Old Trafford.”

With only one win on the road so far this season, Stoke will be hoping to change that statistic on Saturday and claim the bragging rights until the sides meet again in February. But with both teams level on points, there is more than just local pride at stake.

Tony Pulis has a full squad to choose from and Stoke are expected to line-up unchanged from the side that beat Liverpool while the Baggies are expected to make one change at the back with Gonzalo Jara available after a three-game ban.