A WAY THROUGH THIS
MIDDLESBROUGH v WEST BROM
Jonathan Way, 19 Sep 2009
Our best performance of the season.
Is what many Boro fans thought the team gave after beating Sheffield Wednesday 3-1 on Tuesday night. Despite going a goal down in the second minute, the players showed the kind of determination and hard work that is needed for a promotion push by coming from behind and taking all three points.
Since being relegated alongside us last season, the Baggies have made an impressive start to this campaign under their new manager Roberto Di Matteo. Having gained promotion to the Premiership three times in the last seven years, West Brom certainly know how to succeed in this league and will be one of our closest rivals in the Championship this season.
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Danny Coyne v Scott Carson
After Gareth made the decision to stick with Danny last week, the Welshman will definitely not have made the manager think twice about his choice. Unlucky not to have stopped Varney's wicked shot at Hillsborough, Coyne is surely in for a tough test against the Baggies.
Following some excellent displays of late, Di Matteo has backed his number one goalkeeper to regain his place in the England squad. Having not recorded a clean sheet in nearly a month, hopefully Carson's run of conceding will continue this Saturday.
Seb Hines v Jonas Olsson
The 21-year-old will have been disappointed with Varney's goal, having let the Wednesday forward cut inside and get his shot away. Despite this one error, Hines and Wheater had another solid game together in the centre of defence. This will surely be leaving loan signing Sean St. Ledger wondering how he is going to break into the starting line-up.
The Baggies' number three has been a rock at the heart of their back-line since arriving in 2008. Olsson is one player to especially watch out for on set pieces after the tall defender helped himself to two goals against Doncaster Rovers on Tuesday night.
Rhys Williams v Robert Koren
The academy product capped off his performance at Hillsborough with an incredible pass to Aliadiere, who set up Johnson to net Boro's third goal of the evening. If Williams keeps up these displays, he is certainly going to make it difficult for the returning Digard to reclaim his place in the team.
Having been at the Hawthorns for five years now, Koren is someone who is always mentioned when talking about Albion's key players. The Slovenian international scored his first Premier League goal against us, in a fixture at the start of this year in which he also received the man of the match award. Let's hope we don't see a repeat of that game at the weekend.
Marvin Emnes v Roman Bednar
Our number 11 has started every league game so far this season and you can see how he has improved. After working extremely hard up top and setting up Jeremie for our second goal, I hope Southgate sticks with Emnes for this important fixture at the Riverside.
After being out of action for three months following an alleged drugs ban, Bednar has come back into the Baggies team and made an immediate impact. Despite not netting in mid-week, the 26-year-old's current record is two goals in his last three matches.
With both teams claiming 3-1 victories on Tuesday night, this will surely be an entertaining game. West Brom come to Teesside with an impressive away record of 10 points out of a possible 12, so this seems like a perfect time to give them their first away defeat of the season.
Hopefully this match won't bring a repeat of the last campaign's result, when Albion walked away with a 1-0 victory. With both sides focused on the top of the table, I think this close game will finish 1-1, denting both team's promotion hopes.
