Key events
Don’t underestimate how big and hostile a Black Country derby can be. In this part of the world, it’s massive. And with West Brom at home plus the cup tie factor, it’s a really hard one to call. The Baggies are actually unbeaten in their previous four games against Wolves.
Carlos Corberan’s decision to rotate his goalkeeper, however, is perhaps an odd choice, with Josh Griffiths coming in for Alex Palmer.
Wolves have gone with a pretty much full-strength side. They’re without Hwang Hee-chan of course – he’s on Asian Cup duty – but Neto, Cunha et al will fancy their chances of being derby day heroes.
George Elokobi was a cult hero at Wolves and yesterday in the FA Cup certainly belonged to the former defender and his heroic Maidstone United team, who pulled off an all-time great upset by winning at Ipswich, securing a spot for the sixth-tier side in the fifth round hat.
Elokobi would surely love to draw his old side Wolves.
Assume he’s just talking about Keane, here?
Anyway, the stage is set and all that jazz.
Team news
West Brom: Griffiths, Furlong, Bartley, Kipré, Townsend, Yokuslu, Chalobah, Mowatt, Swift, Thomas-Asante, Wallace
Subs: Palmer, Heard, Pieters, Pipa, Fellows, Malcolm, Taylor, Whitwell, Hall
Wolves: Sá, Dawson, Toti, Kilman, Doherty, Bellegarde, Lemina, Doyle, Semedo, Cunha, Neto
Subs: Bentley, Aït-Nouri, S. Bueno, H. Bueno, Hodge, King, Chirewa, Fraser, Griffiths
Preamble
Good morning, all! Well this is an early one, isn’t it? The broadcasters must have been glad Wolves beat Brentford in their third round replay (sorry Bees’ fans) to set up this tantalising Black Country derby. No doubt The Hawthorns will be loud and rowdy despite the kickoff time.
West Brom are ensconsed in the Championship playoff positions right now, albeit they’ve endured a bit of a mixed spell going into this game, while Gary O’Neil has turned Wolves into a mid-table side despite pre-season fears of a relegation dogfight after Julen Loptegui’s sacking on the eve of the campaign. Should be a good cup tie, this one. We’ll run you through the team news next and then build towards the 11.45am (GMT) start.