STOKE CITY v WEST BROMWICH ALBION
Barclays Premier League
Saturday 19th October 2013, 3:00pm
Britannia Stadium

MATCH NOTES

Albion's last game on this date came in 2002 when they played out a 1-1 draw with Birmingham City in a Premier League match at The Hawthorns. Jason Roberts scored a late equaliser for the hosts after a Darren Moore own goal had given City the lead.

The Baggies' last victory on October 19 came in 1991 when they beat Brentford 2-1 at Griffin Park in a Third Division clash thanks to goals from Don Goodman and Kwame Ampadu.

Stoke's last game on October 19 came in 2008 when they beat Spurs 2-1 at the Britannia Stadium in a Premier League game. Danny Higginbotham and Rory Delap scored the Potters' goals.

Albion are unbeaten away so far this season.

Mark Hughes is looking for his 100th Premier League victory as a manager.

Stoke, along with Sunderland, have lost more games (15) during 2013 than any other Premier League club.

Albion's last six games: Arsenal (H) 1-1; Manchester United (A) 2-1; Arsenal (H, LC) 1-1 (3-4 on pens); Sunderland (H) 3-0; Fulham (A) 1-1; Swansea City (H) 0-2.

Stoke City's last six games: Fulham (A) 0-1; Norwich City (H) 0-1; Tranmere Rovers (A, LC) 2-0; Arsenal (A) 1-3; Manchester City (H) 0-0; West Ham United (A) 1-0.

TEAM NEWS

Albion

Baggies’ boss Steve Clarke is boosted by the return of Matej Vydra, Victor Anichebe, Shane Long and Zoltan Gera after their recent injuries.

The return of the quartet means only Ben Foster (foot) and Scott Sinclair (hamstring) are unavailable.

Squad from: Myhill, Daniels, Reid, Olsson, Popov, Ridgewell, Lugano, McAuley, Dawson, Jones, Yacob, Morrison, Brunt, Dorrans, Amalfitano, Mulumbu, Gera, Rosenberg, Long, Anichebe, Sessegnon, Berahino, Vydra, Anelka.

Stoke City

Full-back Geoff Cameron is Stoke's only doubt after picking up a calf problem while on international duty with the United States.

Jon Walters, who pulled out of the Republic of Ireland squad for their World Cup qualifiers against Germany and Kazakhstan due to a groin problem, could figure after being declared fit.

Squad from: Begovic, Sorensen, Cameron, Pieters, Wilkinson, Huth, Shawcross, Wilson, Whelan, Arnautovic, Ireland, Nzonzi, Assaidi, Adam, Palacios, Shea, Etherington, Pennant, Walters, Jones, Crouch.

QUOTES

Baggies' boss Steve Clarke:

“Stoke have been like ourselves; a little bit inconsistent with some good performances and some not so good. I think it’s been well documented that Mark’s been trying to change a little bit the way they play. Basically their characteristics and strengths are the ones they had last season. We go there and expect a really difficult game.

“I'm sure Mark has been working hard with his squad and we go there expecting a really hard game. I can see some changes, especially in trying to change from the back, but I can also see some characteristics from last season. They are still solid defensively.  It's wrong to stereotype them and say they lumped it. They had a way of playing under Tony that was very effective and got them good results. And the players that are still there from Tony's time will still feel comfortable playing that way. All Mark is trying to do is get them playing from the back on the ground.

“Both games last season were awful, absolutely dreadful. We're going to go there in a positive frame of mind to play our football and try and win the game. If Stoke set up to win it, it could be a great game.  We go with positive intentions to try to get three points.

“You are always pleased when you’re friends or people you know get a chance to work. But I was also disappointed that Tony [Pulis] lost the job because Tony’s a good friend as well - I’ve got a lot of time for Tony. That’s the nature of the business. One friend loses a job and someone else comes in. It’s just the way the business is. But it’s good for Mark he's got another chance to show what he can do in the Premier League.”

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Stoke boss Mark Hughes:

“In football, sometimes you don’t get what you deserve, so it was a difficult defeat for us all to take for many different reasons. Truth be told there wasn’t a great deal wrong with the performance against Fulham, we were just probably hamstrung by a couple of disappointing decisions from the officials, whilst we were guilty of not taking the chances that came our way.

“It was disappointing and at the time there were a lot of disappointed players in the dressing room, but we have had a couple of weeks now, and we have managed to do some good work with the lads who have remained with us during the international break. Obviously, we have the full contingent back now and we will work on one or two things ahead of the West Brom game. It is important for us to take the positives from the Fulham game into Saturday’s game.

“There was a lot of frustration around the place after the last game, but hopefully we can take that into Saturday’s match with us and use that to our advantage.

“They [Albion] are flying at the moment, and look to be a very accomplished top-flight team with a wealth of options amongst their ranks. They had a slow start, but have certainly picked up in recent weeks, with the victory at Old Trafford undoubtedly the stand-out result of their season so far.

“They managed to bring in some very good players prior to the closure of the transfer window, and Steve has great strength in depth at his disposal, so we know that it will be a very difficult game for us. But, if we can play to the levels that we have done in the majority of the games this season, and be a little more ruthless when chances come along then we are more than capable of causing them a lot of problems and getting the result that we are all desperate for.”

www.stokecityfc.com

MATCH ODDS

Result

Albion Win: 23/10, Stoke City Win: 5/4, Draw: 11/5.

First Goalscorer

Albion: Anelka 7/1, Anichebe 8/1, Sessegnon 8/1, Long 8/1, Berahino 10/1, Rosenberg 11/1, Vydra 11/1, Morrison 14/1, Brunt 16/1, Amalfitano 16/1, Gera 20/1, Dorrans 20/1, McAuley 25/1, Mulumbu 25/1.

Stoke City: Jones 13/2, Arnautovic 13/2, Crouch 7/1, Walters 15/2, Adam 9/1, Ireland 11/1, Assaidi 14/1, Huth 14/1, Shea 16/1, Pennant 20/1, Etherington 20/1, Wilson 25/1, N'Zonzi 25/1, Shawcross 25/1, Whelan 25/1.

REFEREE

Howard Webb (South Yorkshire)

Webb took charge of two Albion games last season - the 2-1 defeat at home to Arsenal in April and the 4-0 defeat at Norwich City in May.

The South Yorkshire official refereed three Stoke games last season - the 2-1 win at home to Newcastle United in November, the 3-1 victory over Liverpool at the Britannia Stadium in December and the 1-0 FA Cup defeat at home to Manchester City in January.

He has handed out 25 yellow cards in his nine games so far this season.

TICKET INFORMATION

Tickets are no longer available to away supporters.

WEATHER FORECAST

Cloudy with a 30% chance of showers, 16°C.

FIXTURE HISTORY

LAST LEAGUE MEETING AT THE BRITANNIA STADIUM

Stoke City 0-0 Albion
Barclays Premier League
Saturday 16 March 2013, 3:00pm

Stoke City: Begovic; Shotton, Shawcross (c), Wilson, Cameron; Jerome (Adam 75), Whelan (Whitehead HT), Nzonzi, Etherington; Walters, Crouch (Jones 63). Subs not used: Sorensen (gk), Owen, Kightly, Wilkinson.

Booked: Shotton 43 (foul), Etherington 59 (foul)

Albion: Foster; Jones, McAuley, Olsson, Ridgewell; Yacob, Mulumbu; Thomas (Odemwingie 67), Morrison (Fortune 84), Brunt (c); Lukaku (Long 75). Subs not used: Myhill (gk), Rosenberg, Popov, Tamas.

Booked: Brunt 34 (time wasting), Morrison 45+1 (foul)

Attendance: 26,137

Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral)

Stoke's losing streak came to an end but they had to settle for a point after failing to make a breakthrough against West Brom at the Britannia Stadium.

After Asmir Begovic kept out an early strike from Albion captain Chris Brunt, the hosts - who went into the contest having lost their last three Barclays Premier League games and seven of their previous nine - were the better side in a scrappy first half. They could not pose any great threat to the Baggies goal, though, with a deflected Jon Walters effort being their closest attempt. The match improved slightly after the break, but neither team could find a winner, with West Brom's Romelu Lukaku and Stoke's Peter Crouch unable to convert headers. Potters substitute Kenwyne Jones passed up a good opportunity in stoppage time, with Ben Foster claiming his shot. The result sees Stoke move up to 10th place in the table, while Albion stay eighth.

West Brom won a free-kick in a promising position in the second minute after Ryan Shotton slid in on Jerome Thomas, but Lukaku could not fashion a decent shot when the set-piece was laid to him. A minute later Brunt sent a speculative attempt into the stand, before Cameron Jerome looped a header over the bar at the other end. Brunt then broke into the box and hit an effort at Begovic, who gathered at the second attempt. It had been a fairly lively opening from the Baggies, but the hosts began to settle down from there, albeit without carving out any really clear-cut opportunities. Geoff Cameron chested down from a failed attempted clearance by West Brom and fired off-target, and there were then claims that Foster had handled the ball outside the area. Referee Mike Dean judged that the England goalkeeper had been fouled by Jerome on his way out of the box and awarded a free-kick to the visitors. Crouch was next to send a header too high, before Walters saw a shot from outside the box deflect off Jonas Olsson and spin just wide. Jerome whipped the ball across the area on the turn just after the half-hour mark, but it went out for a throw-in. The general lack of tempo in a poor first-half was summed in the 34th minute when Dean booked Brunt for time-wasting.

Stoke midfielder Glenn Whelan, who had been on the receiving end of a high boot from James Morrison at the end of the first half, was substituted for Dean Whitehead at the interval. Shortly after the restart, the in-form Lukaku - scorer of eight goals in his previous 11 Premier League games - got his head to a Thomas cross, but it bounced through to Begovic. Within a minute, Crouch nodded the ball onto the roof of Foster's net from a Matthew Etherington delivery. Marc Wilson, again playing at centre-back for Stoke in the absence of the suspended Robert Huth, then headed the ball away when Lukaku just failed to make connection with Liam Ridgewell's cross into the danger zone. West Brom continued to press, with Begovic getting a palm to a ball into the six-yard box and it going over via another player - seemingly Lukaku, although Dean gave a corner. Stoke manager Tony Pulis reacted by bringing on Jones for Crouch, while Albion boss Steve Clarke replaced Thomas with Peter Odemwingie. More substitutions followed, with Charlie Adam coming on for Jerome and Lukaku being withdrawn for Shane Long, but it made little difference to proceedings. Youssouf Mulumbu struck off-target with around 15 minutes remaining and Wilson then headed wide from a corner. Ryan Shawcross fired a shot against Foster towards the end, but the assistant linesman's flag was raised. Jones was in a similar position in the box at the death and onside as he chested the ball down, but he could not put his shot beyond Foster.

 Sporting Life

CURRENT CONNECTIONS

Baggies' keeper Ben Foster started his professional career with Stoke but failed to make a single first team appearance.

Boaz Myhill spent a short spell on loan at City from Aston Villa in January 2002 but like Foster failed to make a first team appearance.

Current Albion assistant head coach Kevin Keen spent over six years as a Stoke City player.

PAST CONNECTIONS

Amongst the players to have turned out at various levels for both clubs are: George Baddeley, Gary Bannister, Paul Barron, Tommy Broad, Fred Brown, Garth Crooks, Neil Cutler, Bill Davies, Paul Dyson, Wayne Ebanks, Fred Fenton, Ross Fielding, Sean Flynn, Tony Ford, Ricardo Fuller, Gary Hackett, Graham Harbey, Willie Hendry, Carl Hoefkens, Russell Hoult, Geoff Hurst, Joe Johnson, Tony Kelly, Neil Mackenzie, Steve Parkin, Paul Peschisolido, Graham Potter, David Powell, Paul Reece, Brian Rice, Fred Rouse, Maurice Setters, Barry Siddall, Larus Sigurdsson, Andy Smith, Andrew Smith, Derek Statham, Mickey Thomas, Isaiah Turner and Gavin Ward.

ALL-TIME LEAGUE & CUP RECORD VS STOKE CITY