COVID-19 was rife the last time that West Brom and Wolves squared up to one another in a competitive fixture, which came in May 2021 without any fans present, but The Hawthorns will be packed to the rafters for Sunday’s highly-anticipated reunion.
Since being dumped out of the Premier League at the end of the 2020-21 campaign, West Brom’s attempts to return to the promised land have been futile, and the Baggies have also failed to make it past round four of the FA Cup, being subjected to a rude awakening in a 3-0 loss to Bristol City at this stage last year.
The visit of National League outfit Aldershot Town in the third round gave rise to a giant killing, but Carlos Corberan‘s men avoided becoming the latest victims of a cup upset by triumphing 4-1 on January 7, netting three of their goals within the opening 30 minutes of the contest.
An identical Championship win over Blackburn Rovers followed for West Brom just six days later, but last weekend’s sojourn to East Anglia for a date with Norwich City was not a memorable one, as the Baggies had no reply to Josh Sargent and the much-coveted Jonathan Rowe‘s strikes either side of the half-time whistle.
Corberan’s men still boast realistic playoff aspirations as they lie fifth in the Championship standings, thanks in no small part to their exploits at The Hawthorns, where they have won each of their last four games in all tournaments and have lost just once in their last 12 such affairs.
West Brom have dipped their toe into the transfer market to sign Bristol City’s Andreas Weimann on loan this month, but having already featured for the Robins in this season’s competition, the playmaker is cup-tied and unavailable for the Black Country derby.
Nigeria’s Semi Ajayi and DR Congo’s Grady Diangana remain on Africa Cup of Nations duty too, and Corberan lost midfield fulcrum Okay Yokuslu to injury before half time in the loss to Norwich, but he was spotted in training in midweek and should be in contention to play.
That is more than can be said for Jayson Molumby, who is expected to be sidelined for around three months after undergoing a foot operation, while Daryl Dike (calf), Matt Phillips (hamstring) and Josh Maja (ankle) will not be returning anytime soon either.
Wolves have their own international absentees to work around in the shape of South Korea’s Hwang Hee-chan and Mali’s Boubacar Traore, but Rayan Ait-Nouri‘s Algeria suffered a humiliating early exit from the AFCON, and O’Neil has confirmed that the left-back should be in contention to feature here.
Pablo Sarabia‘s cameo against Brighton was cut short on the 70-minute mark due to a hamstring problem, and while he had not rejoined training by the time O’Neil faced the media on Thursday, there is hope that he will be available too.
However, Joao Gomes is still serving his suspension after being banished in Wolves’ opening third-round draw with Brentford, while Jonny remains ostracised from the group until at least the end of the month but is expected to join Greek side PAOK imminently.
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West Bromwich Albion possible starting lineup:
Griffiths; Furlong, Bartley, Kipre, Townsend; Swift, Chalobah, Mowatt; Wallace, Thomas-Asante, Reach
Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Sa; Kilman, Dawson, Toti; Semedo, Lemina, Doyle, Doherty; Bellegarde, Neto; Cunha
