WEST BROMWICH ALBION v STOKE CITY
Barclays Premier League
Sunday 11th May 2014, 3:00pm
The Hawthorns

MATCH NOTES

Sunday's game  at The Hawthorns will be the 136th competitive meeting between the two sides. The Potters currently have 58 wins to their name compared to the Baggies' 42.

Albion's last game on this date came in 2003 when they closed the season with a 2-2 draw against Newcastle United in a Premier League clash at The Hawthorns.

The Baggies' last victory on May 11 came back in 1979 when a John Trewick goal gave Albion a 1-0 win against Aston Villa at Villa Park.

Stoke's last game on this date came in 2002 when they beat Brentford 2-0 in the League Division Two play-off final at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff.

Albion have lost all four of their Premier League meetings with Stoke at The Hawthorns without scoring a goal.

The Baggies have lost just once at home in their last 10 league matches, although they have only won two of those games (W2, D7, L1).

City have only won one of their last 16 matches away from home in the Premier League.

Albion have drawn four and lost one of their last five Premier League games played on the final day of the season. Meanwhile, Stoke have never won on the final day of a Premier League season (D2 L3).

The Baggies have not won any of their last 12 Premier League games played on a Sunday (L6 D6).

Albion's last six games: Sunderland (A) 0-2; Arsenal (A) 0-1; West Ham United (H) 1-0; Manchester City (A) 1-3; Tottenham Hotspur (H) 3-3; Norwich City (A) 1-0.

Stoke City's last six games: Fulham (H) 4-1; Tottenham Hotspur (H) 0-1; Cardiff City (A) 1-1; Newcastle United (H) 1-0; Chelsea (A) 0-3; Hull City (H) 1-0.

TEAM NEWS

Albion

Pepe Mel will be without the trio of Billy Jones and Zoltan Gera (both hamstring) and Steven Reid (groin) for what could be his final game in charge of the Baggies.

Jonas Olsson and Morgan Amalfitano will both return after missing the midweek defeat at Sunderland whilst Liam Ridgewell could also figure following his recovery from a knee injury.

Squad from: Foster, Myhill, Ridgewell, McAuley, Dawson, Olsson, Morrison, Brunt, Dorrans, Mulumbu, Sessegnon, Anichebe, Vydra, Berahino, Amalfitano, Lugano, Yacob, Sinclair, O'Neil, Bifouma.

Stoke City

Stoke's on-loan midfielder Oussama Assaidi is unlikely to figure after suffering a recurrence of the knee injury that sidelined him in February but defender Ryan Shawcross returns after a one-match ban.

Squad from: Begovic, Sorensen, Wilson, Shawcross, Pieters, Cameron, Wilkinson, Muniesa, Shotton, Whelan, Ireland, Nzonzi, Palacios, Adam, Walters, Arnautovic, Odemwingie, Crouch, Guidetti, Etherington.

QUOTES

Baggies' boss Pepe Mel:

“My experience here has made me a better head coach. Now I think Pepe Mel is a better head coach than Pepe Mel in January. For me the team has improved every week. There have been difficult matches but in the end we have stayed in the Premier League - and I’m proud of that.

“I’ve learnt a lot of things about how things are done differently and I know a lot more English than I did four months ago. Of course I’ve really had to be more than simply being a head coach. There have been too many issues that aren’t related to football. But when everything goes well, everything is fine.

“What I really want to do now is thank everyone who has helped me in my time at West Brom. The success really has been everyone’s success. And, I’m in agreement with what Chris Brunt said, for a team that finished eighth last season, we have to try and learn from these lessons so that next season won’t be as difficult. It has been tough work, amazing work and, in the end, good work.

“I hope it’s a good game, people have an enjoyable time and the players show themselves to be good players. And I hope to be able to really put to one side the account we gave of ourselves at Sunderland.”

www.wba.co.uk

Stoke boss Mark Hughes:

“It’s the final game of the season so you are always determined to end it on a good note - and for ourselves we are still chasing achievements and records too. There is still one game to go though against a team who are now safe themselves, but I am hoping that our drive and determination to set new records will be enough to see us over the line. A top ten finish would be a superb achievement for us all, and hopefully we can secure that by going to the Hawthorns and taking the game away from them.

“I’ve been really pleased with the focus of the lads, and the manner in which they have gone about their business this season, especially over the past couple of weeks, has been a real credit to each of them. People questioned whether they would still have that same desire having secured safety a number of weeks ago, but they have answered those questions emphatically in my opinion. They were absolutely sensational last weekend in a game that had so much significance on it for Fulham, so to get that result on the back of such a good performance was hugely satisfying. Hopefully we can build upon that on Sunday and pick up the result that we are all desperate for. We will have a full allocation of supporters there with us and we are determined to send them home for the summer in good spirits."

www.stokecityfc.com

MATCH ODDS

Result

Albion Win: 11/10, Stoke City Win: 13/5, Draw: 9/4.

First Goalscorer

Albion: Berahino 6/1, Vydra 13/2, Anichebe 13/2, Sessegnon 7/1, Thievy 15/2, Morrison 14/1, Sinclair 14/1, Brunt 16/1, Dorrans 16/1, Amalfitano 20/1, Dawson 20/1, Mulumbu 20/1, McAuley 25/1, Lugano 33/1, Yacob 33/1.

Stoke City: Crouch 6/1, Odemwingie 6/1, Guidetti 9/1, Walters 9/1, Arnautovic 9/1, Adam 11/1, Ireland 14/1, Etherington 20/1, N'Zonzi 20/1, Whelan 25/1, Shawcross 33/1, Cameron 33/1, Shotton 33/1.

www.williamhill.com

REFEREE

Lee Probert (Wiltshire)

Probert has taken charge of one Albion game this season - the 1-1 draw at Fulham back in September.

The Wiltshire official has refereed two Stoke games during 2013/14 - last month's 3-0 defeat against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and the Potters' 2-1 win in the FA Cup at home to Leicester City in January.

Probert has handed out 54 yellow cards and five red in the 30 games he has officiated this season.

TICKET INFORMATION

Tickets for the game are now completely sold out.

WEATHER FORECAST

Light rain showers, 11°C.

FIXTURE HISTORY

LAST MEETING AT THE HAWTHORNS

Albion 0-1 Stoke City
Barclays Premier League
Saturday 1 December 2012, 3:00pm

Albion: Myhill; Reid, McAuley, Olsson (c), Popov; Yacob (Brunt 82), Mulumbu; Rosenberg (Lukaku 64), Gera (Odemwingie 64), Dorrans; Long. Subs not used: L Daniels (gk), Ridgewell, Morrison, Tamas.

Stoke City: Begovic; Shotton, Shawcross (c), Huth, Cameron; Walters, Whelan, Nzonzi, Adam (Whitehead 65), Etherington (Kightly 60); Jones. Subs not used: Sorensen (gk), Palacios, Upson, Wilkinson, Edu.

Booked: Huth 35 (foul), Adam 44 (foul), Shawcross 49 (foul)

Goalscorer: Whitehead 75

Attendance: 24,739

Referee: Kevin Friend (Leicestershire)

Stoke continued their dominance against West Brom as substitute Dean Whitehead scored a late winner in the Barclays Premier League clash at The Hawthorns. Whitehead converted a cross from fellow substitute Michael Kightly to earn the Potters their first away league win since January. Tony Pulis' side have taken 13 points from the last five games, while for the fifth-placed Baggies it was a second setback in the space of 72 hours following Wednesday night's 3-1 loss at Swansea. Stoke's victory means Albion have failed to defeat them in front of their own fans for nine years and they have triumphed only twice in the last 30 league meetings. They have won all four Premier League encounters at The Hawthorns without conceding a goal.

Kenwyne Jones made his first Premier League start of the season in place of the injured Peter Crouch and was a constant threat to the West Brom defence. Albion drew a blank at home for the first time this season and seldom looked like finding a way through the Stoke back four in which skipper Ryan Shawcross was outstanding. Youssouf Mulumbu gave his usual solid display in midfield while defender Gareth McAuley made several crucial challenges. But Albion lacked their usual spark in the attacking third of the pitch as they missed the opportunity to reclaim third spot after Chelsea's lunchtime defeat against West Ham.

West Brom head coach Steve Clarke made six changes from the side beaten at Swansea in midweek and handed a debut to Sweden striker Markus Rosenberg. Jones came close to breaking the deadlock in the 14th minute after a quiet opening to the game. The Trinidad & Tobago international got on the end of a cross from Geoff Cameron and directed his header back across goal and only inches wide of the post. Shawcross produced a fine tackle to halt the run of Graham Dorrans on the edge of the Stoke box after a reverse pass from Rosenberg. Robert Huth blocked a fierce drive from Mulumbu after Dorrans had found him in space but neither goalkeeper had a save to make in the opening half-hour. Huth became the first player to be yellow-carded after 35 minutes for bringing down Shane Long. Stoke keeper Asmir Begovic had to back-pedal to parry a speculative dipping 40-yard attempt from Steven Reid over the bar. Charlie Adam became the second Stoke player to be booked a minute before half-time for a foul on Zoltan Gera.

Shawcross followed him into referee Kevin Friend's notebook shortly after the restart after bringing down Long. Begovic dealt comfortably with Jonas Olsson's looping header from Long's cross as clear-cut chances continued to be at a premium. Pulis replaced Matthew Etherington with former Wolves winger Michael Kightly after 59 minutes. Clarke then brought on forward players Romelu Lukaku and Peter Odemwingie for the ineffective Rosenberg and Gera. McAuley produced a superb tackle inside the Baggies box to halt Jones in full flight. But after 75 minutes Stoke broke the deadlock after a rare mistake by Jonas Olsson. The centre-back tried to keep the ball in play when challenging Jones but only succeeded in finding Kightly. He ran unopposed into the Albion area and his low cross was turned home by Whitehead. Begovic parried a Dorrans drive but Stoke held out with relative ease for the three points.

 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.

City striker Peter Odemwingie spent  three years at The Hawthorns after joining Albion from Lokomotiv Moscow in August 2010. His first two seasons at the club were hugely successful but after falling out with the club's hierarchy he left for Cardiff City in September 2013. Just four months after joining the Welsh side Odemwingie left to join Stoke.

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