West Brom v Middlesbrough preview: Tony Pulis returns to The Hawthorns

In a normal week, the build-up to a clash between fourth and fifth and a reunion with Tony Pulis would dominate thoughts. But this was no normal week.

Thanks to a mid-month recall from Leicester for Harvey Barnes, and a long wait for Newcastle’s transfer activity to grind into gear, the Baggies left it late last night to get their business done.

But Darren Moore and his coaching team still have to devise a way to overcome Pulis’s Middlesbrough side, particularly after the former Baggies boss out-thought them back in August.

“The workload’s double for me this month,” admitted Moore, before yesterday’s frenzy.

Although the new signings met their Albion team-mates yesterday and will train with them this morning, it’s unlikely that any of them will be thrown in from the off on Saturday.

Moore will make plenty of changes from the side that drew with Brighton in the FA Cup, particularly with the replay of that fourth round fixture around the corner next Wednesday.

But the starting line-up will probably have a familiar feel.

Jake Livermore is expected to return to midfield following his four-game suspension, and his partners will be determined by how fit Gareth Barry and Chris Brunt are.

Sam Field and Rekeem Harper do not deserve to lose their spots, but with eight games in the next 28 days, get used to squad rotation.

Of the new boys, Jacob Murphy is most likely to be on the bench, having played for Newcastle on Saturday, although all of the additions have been signed in time to play.

Murphy could have been lining up for the opposition, because Middlesbrough were also battling for his signature this week.

But the lure of playing for such an attack-minded team may have proved the clincher.

This is the division’s most potent front-line against its most robust defence.

The benefits of winning this game are obvious.

Not only will it stretch Albion six points clear of Boro, but it will keep Moore’s men in touch with the top two, who play each other in the 5.30pm kick off.

But the right result would deliver something less tangible than a vital three points in the hunt for promotion but equally as important.

It would also be a victory for Moore’s culture change at the club, his desire to turn the Baggies away from the Pulis approach into a more attack-minded side.

In August, he was dealt an early lesson by an experienced manager when his evolution was in its infancy.

Are he and his team now ready for one of the toughest tests in the league?

Likely line-up

Subs: Bond, Adarabioyo, Bartley, Field, Brunt, Murphy, Montero.

The opposition - Tony Pulis's Middlesbrough will have a familiar feel

What type of reaction Pulis receives on his first return to The Hawthorns will be intriguing.

Although he divided opinion for the majority of his three years in the Black Country, he did guide the Baggies to three respectable mid-table finishes in the Premier League.

But at the start of last season, his tenure started to unravel just at the point he and the club attempted to kick on and evolve.

By the end, even his most ardent supporters agreed that time was up. As indeed, did the man himself.

More than a year has passed since he was sacked, but has enough time passed to dilute the anger that built up during those final games?

We will find out tomorrow, when Pulis brings a Middlesbrough side to The Hawthorns that many Albion fans will be familiar with.

Boro can move level with Darren Moore’s men on 50 points should they win, but only four teams in the division have scored fewer goals than tomorrow’s visitors.

There’s more than one way to skin a cat, of course, and the reason Pulis’s team are currently in the top six is their stingy defence.

Boro have conceded just 20 goals from 28 games. Nobody else has conceded fewer than 29.

The 1-0 win over Albion at the Riverside back in August epitomised his approach, when the Baggies had no answer for a back five of six-foot-plus giants.

After that game, he said any team that finished above Albion would get promoted, and so far, that prediction is proving shrewd.

Pulis’s side are in form as well. After a blip in December put the former Baggies boss under pressure, Boro have now gone six games unbeaten in all competitions, although a draw at home to League Two Newport County in the FA Cup last time out was not on the cards.

And Baggies fans won’t need reminding of Pulis’s impressive record against his former clubs.

He turned Albion’s fortunes against Stoke around completely.

The Potters went from a bogey team to a guaranteed three points, and he also enjoyed success against Crystal Palace too.

Even though he was the right appointment at The Hawthorns at the start of 2015, when Albion desperately needed a firefighter to save them from relegation, Pulis’s approach has a shelf-life.

He reached that at The Hawthorns after three years, but when promotion is the aim rather than staying up, perhaps the shelf life is shorter.

This is an important game for Pulis, not only because it’s his first return to The Hawthorns, but also because the fans of his current club need convincing he can keep pace with the division’s strongest teams.

Boro dangerman - Lewis Wing

The 23-year-old attacking midfielder has recently broken into the Boro team. While he may not get too many goals or assists, he has one of each in the past two games and is an exciting youngster capable of knitting Tony Pulis’s attacks together. Drifts into pockets of space before playing the killer ball.

Albion's key man - Dwight Gayle

The Baggies signed three loanees last night, but they will look to one of their existing ones for inspiration today. Albion couldn’t score against Boro in August, but Dwight Gayle has a great record at The Hawthorns this season, and Albion will hope he can break the deadlock.

Memory lane

A Tony McMahon own goal plus strikes from Marc Antoine Fortuné and Robert Koren saw Boro beaten 3-0 at The Hawthorns in 2009.