Aiming to avoid three-straight league defeats, West Bromwich Albion will make the trip up to the AESSEAL New York Stadium on Tuesday night to face managerless Rotherham United.
The Millers' winless streak continued with a loss at home to Swansea City on Saturday, whilst West Brom fell to defeat at Sunderland's Stadium of Light on the same day.
Match preview
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Since the 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Valerien Ismael's Watford brought an end to Matt Taylor's tenure at the club, Rotherham United have extended their winless spell in the Championship from four to eight matches under the interim management of Wayne Carlisle.
The Millers had exceptional chances to earn a maiden away maximum of the term at Wayne Rooney's Birmingham City on December 2, but the first-half dismissal of Daniel Ayala on Saturday gave Rotherham little chance of earning three points, with goals from Charlie Patino and Jerry Yates condemning the hosts at the New York Stadium to their 11th loss of the season.
Rotherham are said to be close to appointing a successor to Taylor, with ex-Wigan Athletic boss Leam Richardson holding advanced talks with the Yorkshire club's hierarchy at the end of last week as the 44-year-old edges closer to taking over a side who are bottom of the Championship table, eight points adrift of safety.
Despite their lowly league position, the Millers have fared reasonably well at home during midweek matches in recent times, beating Coventry City 2-0 thanks to goals from Lee Peltier and Oliver Rathbone, as well as sharing the spoils with promotion-chasing Ipswich Town on November 7.
Sam Nombe and former West Brom player Jordan Hugill are fighting for a spot in Carlisle's attack, and the 25-year-old is currently winning the battle, with the summer arrival from Exeter City possessing the ability to harry and disrupt second-tier defences on his day.
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West Brom have suffered back-to-back league defeats for the first time this season after falling to a 2-1 loss at the Stadium of Light against Mike Dodds's Sunderland at Saturday lunchtime, with the Baggies unable to respond results-wise following the heartbreaking defeat to league leaders Leicester City a week earlier.
Albion were lucky to be level at the break after Jobe Bellingham was unfairly judged to be offside in the build-up to him making the net ripple in the first period, but the hosts were still able to secure maximum points as Daniel Ballard and Daniel Neil breached the goal of Alex Palmer in the second half.
After a run of seven games which saw the Baggies face teams inside of the current top eight of the Championship, Carlos Corberan's men will do battle with basement dwellers Rotherham and out-of-sorts Stoke City over the next week, meaning the clear goal for the Black Country outfit is six points from the six available.
With Russell Martin's Southampton earning a point at Vicarage Road on the weekend, West Brom find themselves six points behind fourth in the second-tier standings, though in better news, the Baggies possess a comforting two-point gap over seventh-placed Cardiff City despite failing to pick up a result in December so far.
The Baggies' most recent trip to the New York Stadium was an especially painful one - and felt like the day that West Brom's confidence in making last season's top six evaporated - as Hugill bagged a brace against his former employers and Tariqe Fosu added a third to seal a 3-1 Rotherham victory in April.
Team News
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Rotherham will be without the services of centre-back Ayala on Tuesday night, with the 33-year-old receiving his marching orders during the Swansea loss after collecting two yellow cards in the opening 17 minutes.
With the absence of the Spaniard guaranteed, it is likely that either Sean Morrison or Grant Hall will come into the hosts' back four to partner Hakeem Odoffin, who normally plays in the midfield.
The Millers are short on options in defence as Cameron Humphreys continues his recovery from a hamstring injury suffered during the draw against Preston North End in September.
West Brom were forced into their third first-half substitution in as many matches on Saturday, with an injury-plagued Josh Maja being forced off with an ankle issue which could see him on the sidelines for a significant period of time once again.
Instead of opting for fellow striker Brandon Thomas-Asante to replace Maja, Corberan introduced Tom Fellows to the action at the Stadium of Light, and the youngster could be rewarded with a starting berth on Tuesday after some energetic cameos recently.
Matt Phillips is set to be out for around four months with a hamstring issue, whereas Jed Wallace is yet to return to the matchday squad following the shoulder injury he sustained at Cardiff on November 28.
Rotherham United possible starting lineup:
Johansson; Peltier, Morrison, Odoffin, Revan; Appiah, Lindsay, Rathbone, Tiehi, Bramall; Nombe
West Bromwich Albion possible starting lineup:
Palmer; Furlong, Ajayi, Kipre, Townsend; Yokuslu, Mowatt, Fellows, Swift, Sarmiento; Thomas-Asante
We say: Rotherham United 0-1 West Bromwich Albion
Rotherham are in the midst of an awful run of form and will not expect much against a West Brom side who have been largely impressive so far this season.
Albion are still likely to deliver a consistent level of performance despite a number of key absences due to injury, so we feel that Corberan's men will return to winning ways on Tuesday night.
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