Rotherham United will be looking to give their survival ambitions a serious boost when they host playoff-chasing West Bromwich Albion at the AESSEAL New York Stadium on Friday afternoon in the Championship.
The Millers are desperate to avoid another immediate return to League One after being promoted from the third tier last season, whilst Albion know it is now or never for their promotion push.
Match preview
© Reuters
For a large part of this current campaign, it looked as if Rotherham would be avoiding another relegation scrap in the Championship, with the club sitting as high as sixth during the opening stages of the season.
Unfortunately for them however, a run of just three wins in their last 16 second-tier matches has seen the Millers dragged right into the survival dogfight - one which supporters have become all too accustomed to over the past six years.
Matthew Taylor's men sit 19th in the Championship standings ahead of the visit of West Brom, two points better off than 22nd-placed Huddersfield Town and seven ahead of bottom-side Wigan Athletic.
The Millers have collected the vast majority of their points at the New York Stadium so far this term, with seven of their nine wins overall coming at their Yorkshire home - victories that may well save the club from a sentence of League One football next season.
Chiedozie Ogbene has been the man Rotherham have looked towards for those telling moments at the top of the pitch, with the Ireland international scoring seven times to date during his first full season at this level.
© Reuters
West Brom failed to take full advantage of playoff rivals Blackburn Rovers and Norwich City dropping points on Saturday as they were held to a goalless draw by Gary Rowett's Millwall at The Hawthorns.
The Baggies controlled proceedings at their Black Country home but - rather tellingly - only managed one shot on target to the visitors' four, a statistic which highlights some of the issues for Albion of late.
Carlos Corberan will be beginning to question the makeup of his best starting XI after a run of only three wins in the last nine Championship matches, with the likes of Adam Reach and Brandon Thomas-Asante becoming regular starters ahead of Daryl Dike and Marc Albrighton.
With ownership issues swirling around The Hawthorns and parachute payments set to run out, West Brom know their status as elite operators at this level may expire after the season's end - promotion to the Premier League looks to be the only quick way out of a difficult future for the club.
The thought of Jake Livermore - or perhaps Okay Yokuslu - leading his Albion teammates up the Wembley stairs after a playoff-final success does seem crazily optimistic, but the Baggies are only four points behind sixth-placed Blackburn heading into the last eight games of the regular season.
Team News
© Reuters
Rotherham will be without the suspended Domingos Quina for the visit of West Brom on Friday - the winger was dismissed in the draw at Hull City last time out.
Centre-back duo Grant Hall and Sean Morrison are out due to hamstring and thigh injuries respectively, meaning Cameron Humphreys and Bailey Wright will line up in the middle of the Millers' defence.
West Brom have been hit with two significant injury blows over the past fortnight, with influential duo Jayson Molumby and Dara O'Shea picking up knocks while on international duty with Ireland.
Grady Diangana's flair has been missed on the flanks for Albion, and the winger is expected to miss the remainder of the season due to a foot injury.
Better news over the past week has arrived in the form of defender Kyle Bartley, with the veteran featuring in the Baggies matchday squad on Saturday for the first time in over six months.
Rotherham United possible starting lineup:
Johansson; Peltier, Wright, Humphreys, Bramall; Lindsay, Coventry, Fosu; Ogbene, Hugill, Ferguson
West Bromwich Albion possible starting lineup:
Griffiths; Furlong, Ajayi, Pieters, Townsend; Yokuslu, Gardner-Hickman, Wallace, Swift, Albrighton; Dike
We say: Rotherham United 1-1 West Bromwich Albion
Rotherham have fallen into a relegation battle in the Championship since the World Cup break, and a home fixture against a West Brom side who struggle on the road is a good opportunity to distance themselves from the bottom three.
The Baggies simply need to start winning on their travels if they are to finish inside the top six this season, but we see Corberan's men only managing a draw in Yorkshire on Friday afternoon.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
