Premier League Preview: West Bromwich Albion - Bolton Wanderers

Gary Megson returns to his old stomping ground for the first time since 2004, and will be keen to make a point to his former employers..

Mar 20, 2009 2:00:00 PM

More On :  Bolton, West Bromwich Albion, Shelton Martis, Matthew Taylor
EPL: Tony Mowbray, West Ham United v West Bromwich Albion (PA)

Venue: The Hawthorns. Date: Saturday, 21 March Kick-off: 1500 GMT

Targeting the Trotters...

West Bromwich Albion boss Tony Mowbray will be desperate to end a run of three home games in which three goals or more have been conceded by his Baggies.

Certainly, against West Ham United on Monday night there looked to be improvement, with Albion coming away from east London with a point after a goalless draw. With the inexperienced and naive state of the Baggies back four at times this season, many fans of the Black Country outfit will have imbued that clean sheet with almost the status of a victory.
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They will want Albion to push on it from it and start winning. With the Baggies rooted to the bottom of the table, four points from 19th place and six from 17th, points are badly needed.

Mowbray clearly feels the same way, telling BBC Sport, "If you look at the next three games, with Bolton and Stoke and Portsmouth, we've got to genuinely believe if we get it right on the day we can accrue enough points to give ourselves a realistic chance of getting back into the pack.

"We've got to keep going and rebounding from the disappointment of another defeat and keep believing and I think the team do. I see that on the training ground every day."

The problem he faces is that those three teams are also battling for points to ensure survival, and everything begins to a look a bit harder for the Baggies as time grows ever shorter.

Always look on the bright side....

Bolton manager Gary Megson seems to be one of the game's more realistic characters when assessing his team's prospects - some might almost term him a pessimist.

Frequently this season he has reminded his side that they are in a relegation battle, and, after their abject 3-1 surrender to Fulham at the Reebok last week, he was moved to hammer home the message again, telling The Bolton News, "At the moment we really have to look at where we are compared with everyone else and put it into context. I would suggest that we are now in a relegation battle with nine other clubs, and we are the best placed of those nine. We have got to try and get the results we need, get them as early as we can, and hopefully move out of that band of clubs."

Megson has won few friends amongst the Bolton support, many of whom perceive him as a negative presence, in both tactics and attitude, at the Reebok. Outsiders would definitely see echoes in his team of the way that Sam Allardyce used to do things with the Trotters, and Megson has proved over the last year or so, not least by keeping Wanderers in the Premier League last season, that he can, like Allardyce, squeeze an impressive amount from limited resources.

That squeezing will hopefully mean an improvement defensively, after some 'schoolboy' errors allowed Fulham to take their first away win of the season away from Lancashire last week. If Bolton react as many expect them to, they will be come out snarling and spoiling for the battle on Saturday.

Their fans will expect nothing less.

FORM GUIDE

West Bromwich Albion

07.02.09 West Brom 2-3 Newcastle United Premier League

22.02.09 Fulham 2-0 West Brom Premier League

28.02.09 Everton 2-0 West Brom Premier League

03.03.09 West Brom 1-3 Arsenal Premier League

16.03.09 West Ham 0-0 West Brom Premier League

Bolton Wanderers

07.02.09 Everton 3-0 Bolton Premier League

21.02.09 Bolton 2-1 West Ham Premier League

01.03.09 Bolton 1-0 Newcastle United Premier League

04.03.09 Stoke City 2-0 Bolton Premier League

14.03.09 Bolton 1-3 Fulham Premier League

TEAM NEWS

West Bromwich Albion

Former Bolton centre-back Abdoulaye Meite misses out with a hamstring injury. Fellow defender Leon Barnett is sidelined for several weeks  with a knee injury, so new defensive pairing Jonas Olsson and Shelton Martis are set to keep their places in the Baggies' improving back-four.

Squad: Carson, Zuiverloon, Olsson, Martis, Robinson, Morrison, Dorrans, Koren, Brunt, Greening, Fortune, Teixeira, Simpson, Moore, Kiely, Hoefkens, Cech, Bednar.

Last Line-Up (versus West Ham, 16.03.09)

Carson, Zuiverloon, Martis, Olsson, Robinson, Morrison (Filipe Teixeira 88), Koren, Dorrans, Greening, Brunt (Simpson 80), Fortune (Moore 80).
Subs Not Used: Kiely, Hoefkens, Cech, Bednar.

Bolton Wanderers

Midfielder Mark Davies is out for four or five weeks with a knee injury, but otherwise Trotters gaffer Megson has no new injury or suspension concerns.

Squad: Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Cahill, Andrew O'Brien, Samuel, Riga, Taylor, McCann, Muamba, Gardner, Kevin Davies, Elmander, Al Habsi, Hunt, Puygrenier, Makukula, Shittu.

Last Line-Up (versus Fulham, 14.03.09)

Schwarzer, Pantsil, Hangeland, Hughes, Konchesky, Davies, Etuhu, Murphy, Dempsey, Johnson (Nevland 90), Zamora (Kamara 84).

Subs Not Used: Zuberbuhler, Gera, Dacourt, Stoor, Smalling.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

West Bromwich Albion

Things have been fraught defensively for the Baggies in recent weeks but a clean sheet at West Ham on Monday was a drastic improvement. Part of the reason for that was Dutch Antilles defender Shelton Martis. The former Hibernian man has spent some of the season on loan in the Championship with Doncaster Rovers, and has impressed his manager with his work ethic. Mowbray told BBC Sport, "The boy, because of his attitude and drive, he deserves his chance. Ultimately he has got great potential to be a Premier League footballer. He's got size, he's got strength, he's got the passing ability. He just needs to make sure he stays focussed on the job every week."

Bolton Wanderers

Midfielder Matt Taylor has reportedly been on England manager Fabio Capello's radar as one for the future this season, and the player, comfortable on the left side of defence or in midfield, has justified such interest with a string of impressive performances. One of his speciality long-range efforts might well be what is needed to break a game that is likely to be tense and tight. It would also be the 50th league goal of his career.

PREDICTION

With vital points up for grabs and both teams will be intent on improving their defensive performances. This is likely to be a tense, low-scoring affair. Bolton are a resilient lot though, and I expect them to be in typically combative form and successfully battle for three points from a Baggies outfit whose confidence is brittle at best.

West Bromwich Albion 0-1 Bolton Wanderers

Zack Wilson, Goal.com
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