West Bromwich Albion will hope they can fare better than their promotion rivals Sunderland managed versus bottom-of-the-table Plymouth Argyle when travelling down to Devon this Saturday lunchtime.
The Pilgrims proved that they cannot be underestimated by any of the Championship promotion pack with a dramatic 2-2 draw at the Stadium of Light, but Tony Mowbray will hope his side’s big 5-1 win over Portsmouth means they enter into this one with the same ruthlessness on display.
Mowbray has been here before in attempting to guide the Baggies up to the top flight and was successful all the way back in 2008, with midfield star James Morrison fitting in well throughout his debut season to make that promotion dream become a reality.
Morrison's impact at West Brom
Morrison wasn’t just in it for the short-term at the Hawthorns, however, with the now-retired 38-year-old going on to amass a mammoth 341 appearances across 12 esteemed years.
A large portion of those games would come in the Premier League, but Morrison was an instant success in the second tier during the 2007/08 campaign to help the Baggies lift the title on 81 points.
He would pick up an impressive six goals and five assists from 43 appearances as a mainstay of Mowbray’s promotion-winning outfit, before then establishing himself as a modern-day great in the West Midlands across the many seasons that followed.
Now, Morrison is a first-team coach back at West Brom alongside the manager who used to rely on him week in week out, with a hope in the air that this potential new midfield recruit could be the second coming of the popular Scotsman.
Mowbray targeting West Brom's next Morrison
Mowbray could well stumble upon Morrison 2.0 in Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Stuart Armstrong, as interest reportedly hots up again on the end of the Baggies to try and land the 32-year-old.
Linked previously in the window with a switch to the promotion hopefuls, Football League World has now added fuel to the fire by stating that West Brom are ‘pushing hard’ to try and land the ex-Celtic man’s signature with Sheffield Wednesday also sniffing around.
Away from both possessing the same national allegiance, Armstrong could come in and be as impactful as Morrison was if he relocates to the Hawthorns shortly, based on his glowing Southampton numbers during their own promotion story.
Before moving out to Canada, the £39k-per-week ace was a key part of the camp that won promotion to the Premier League under Russell Martin just last campaign, with his added presence to Mowbray’s group now perhaps boosting their chances of tasting that same success.
Stat – per 90 mins*
Armstrong
Games played
42
Goals scored
5
Assists
7
Big chances created
11
Touches*
58.3
Accurate passes*
35.9 (83%)
Key passes*
1.6
Looking at the table above, away from the likes of Adam Armstrong stealing the plaudits as a clinical striker for the level, his midfield teammate was also key at points in dragging his team to victories with a sizeable five goals and seven assists tallied up.
Creating a hefty 11 big chances should help the Baggies in their bid to be as lethal as they were against Pompey moving forward, with Armstrong’s play style from last season even seeing Martin describe the 32-year-old as a “smooth” operator and a “great athlete”.
He even has a free-kick effort like this up his sleeve, with West Brom hopeful that they can strike gold by snapping up the seasoned midfielder as a place inside the playoff picture in the Championship continues to be eyed up.
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