West Brom v Stoke preview- Tony Pulis and Mark Hughes bury the hatchet

They each told the same story in their pre-match press conferences of a gentleman’s handshake at a Premier League managers’ meeting.

“There is no problem,” said Hughes. “Everything’s fine,” insisted Pulis.

But even if the old enemies have decided to let bygones be bygone, it’s unlikely that either will want to win another game in the opening few weeks of the season as much as this one.

The hostility runs deep, and can be traced back to 2010 when Hughes refused to shake Pulis’s hand when the pair managed Fulham and Stoke respectively because he felt Andy Wilkinson’s challenge on Mousa Dembele was too robust.

In the next fixture between the two, Pulis refused to shake Hughes’s hand in retaliation, and then three years later, Hughes replaced Pulis as Stoke manager.

Then came the dramatic fall-out from the Saido Berahino transfer earlier this year. It started with conflicting reports over whether the Baggies had told Stoke about the striker’s drugs ban before his £12m move, and ended with Pulis calling Hughes ‘disgraceful’ for spinning a private phone call he’d had with Ryan Shawcross which included the word ‘loser’.

Then, as if that wasn’t enough, Stoke managed to prise Pulis’s skipper and right-hand man Darren Fletcher away from The Hawthorns this summer.

The plot has more strands than a Game of Thrones episode, not that it matters to Pulis.

“I think the media and press would like to make it more than it is and I understand you have to do your job,” he said.

“But for me it’s a game of football that we have to win and we will be doing our utmost to go out and win it.

“Whether it’s Burnley, Bournemouth or Stoke, we will prepare in the manner we should to try to win.”

Added to the dragon-fire is the fact Stoke are now Albion’s nearest rivals geographically in the top tier, making this their de facto derby.

“We’ve lost the other clubs around us,” admitted Pulis. “Stoke and Leicester have become our local derby games. Unfortunately, although our supporters will say fortunately, Birmingham, Wolves and Villa are playing in the Championship so these two are now our rivals.”

The atmosphere will probably be nearing derby levels. After three wins from three, the Baggies are bouncing, but Stoke followed up their 1-0 win over Arsenal with a thumping 4-0 victory over Rochdale in the Carabao Cup.

Both teams are on form, and then there’s the return of Berahino and Fletcher added to the mix. Pulis, though, hopes his former captain gets nothing but praise from the Baggies fans.

“Fletcher should get a great reception because he’s been absolutely fantastic for this football club,” said Pulis. “He’s a wonderful, wonderful person.

“What he did here as a person on and off the pitch was first class. He missed one game in two and a half years.

“Anybody who’s been involved with Darren Fletcher will tell you what a great person and human being he is. I’ll be really disappointed if he got anything but applause.”

Pulis will be without Gareth McAuley and Jonny Evans, who are both still injured, but will have a clean bill of health apart from that.

James Morrison came through the mid-week tie against Accrington Stanley ok, and new signing Oliver Burke is expected to start on the bench.

The Baggies boss got a great record against his former club with Albion, having won four and drawn one of his last five meetings with Stoke.

“I don’t want you bringing it up and ruining it!” he joked, chastising the Sky reporter who mentioned his recent pedigree against the Potters. Maybe it does matter a bit more after all.

Stoke boss Mark Hughes insists the club is moving in the right direction after a successful week on the pitch.

Hughes was coming under fire from fans from the very start of the season after a disappointing campaign last time out.

But last weekend the Potters beat Arsenal at home thanks to a goal from new signing Jese that was set up by former Albion man Saido Berahino. And they followed that up with a thumping 4-0 win over Rochdale.

“The Arsenal game was the perfect game for us in terms of setting down a marker for this season,” said Hughes. “We followed that up with a professional performance on Wednesday night.

“In terms of form we are in a good place. We are in decent shape. Maybe not in as much turmoil as some were suggesting!”

Hughes is encouraged by how quickly last week’s match-winner Jese has settled in – both on and off the pitch.

The forward joined the club on loan from Paris St Germain and enjoyed a dream debut as he scored the only goal against Arsene Wenger’s Gunners.

“It’s something we hoped would happen but he’d only been in the building two or three days and he was up against strong opposition,” said Hughes.

“That’s really encouraging about the rest of the season. He’s integrated really quickly.

“The guys appreciate his ability and talent and as a guy he’s very sociable.

“The dressing room understands what we want to achieve and if good talents become available we will bring them to the club. This is a good place to ply your trade.”

And the Stoke boss insists he has no added incentive to win tomorrow just because it’s against old foe Tony Pulis.

The 53-year-old has rarely seen eye to eye with his fellow Welshman, but says the previous animosity has now washed away.

“You’d have to ask him whether there’s an extra edge from his point of view,” said Hughes.

“Not from us. We view West Brom as a really difficult and challenging fixture.

“It’s one of those games with local rivalry. We’d like to feel we can go there and get a positive result. We haven’t had too much luck in recent seasons and want to improve on that.”

Xherdan Shaqiri remains an injury concern ahead of the trip to The Hawthorns.

A hamstring problem forced the Switzerland international off midway through the first half against Arsenal.

“He obviously felt something in the game and came off early. We’re hopeful but we won’t take any risks. He’s not ruled out yet,” said Hughes.

Hughes made eight changes against Rochdale and the likes of Jack Butland, Ryan Shawcross, Darren Fletcher, Jese and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting are expected to come back into the team.

Albion (4-1-4-1): Foster; Nyom, Dawson, Hegazi, Brunt; Barry; Phillips, Livermore, Morrison, McClean; Rodriguez. Subs: Myhill, Wilson, Field, Harper, Chadli, Burke, Rondon.

Stoke (3-4-3): Butland; Zouma, Shawcross, Cameron; Pieters, Allen, Fletcher, Diouf; Jese, Choupo-Moting, Berahino.

The former Real Madrid man became Stoke’s fifth – that’s right, fifth – former Champions League winner when he joined on loan from Paris St-Germain, more than any other English club. And he marked his debut with the only goal of the game against Arsenal last weekend.

Score draw