West Brom’s impeccable form at The Hawthorns continued last time out courtesy of a narrow 1-0 success over Shaun Maloney’s Latics, with American Daryl Dike on the scoresheet once more to secure another home victory.
Albion boss Carlos Corberan admitted after the game that his side should have sealed the points much earlier in the contest – the hosts certainly had enough opportunities to do so – however, the West Midlands outfit had to survive a late onslaught from Wigan to hold onto their maximum.
Muted celebrations at full time may not signify how important those three points could prove to be for the Baggies, with West Brom moving up to ninth in the league standings, four points behind sixth-placed Norwich City.
A playoff place looked more likely than not after a sensational start to Corberan’s tenure in the Black Country hotseat, although four-straight away defeats in the Championship have severely hindered Albion’s progress up the table – understandably supporters will be happy to be at The Hawthorns this weekend.
Corberan’s side are unbeaten in 10 matches on home soil in all competitions, with their last home defeat coming at the hands of Sheffield United all the way back in October.
Huddersfield boss Neil Warnock can only dream of an unbeaten spell as long as 10 games as his side battle to stay in the division, although they did halt a worrying run of defeats on Tuesday night at home to Bristol City.
The Terriers kept their first clean sheet under the stewardship of 74-year-old Warnock in a goalless draw with the Robins last time out – a game which saw the visitors create the majority of the clear-cut chances but to no reward as Huddersfield earned a valuable point.
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The Yorkshire-based club will take anything to add to their tally in the Championship table, but the fact that safety is now six points away will not have gone unnoticed at the John Smith’s Stadium, with a tricky patch of upcoming fixtures providing little opportunity to record maximums.
All of Town’s next six second-tier clashes are against sides currently occupying top-10 positions – an intimidating schedule that will have supporters worrying that their 11-year absence from League One could be coming to an end.
Warnock has won eight promotions during his coveted managerial career, yet keeping a wounded Huddersfield side in the Championship this season would surely rank as one of his greatest achievements in the game.
