West Bromwich Albion welcome Millwall to the Hawthorns on Saturday 5th October in what will be their third game this week.
After a 3-2 loss away at Sheffield Wednesday and a 1-0 loss at home to Middlesbrough, the Baggies will be hoping for a vast improvement if they are to mount a successful playoff finish at the end of the season.
Carlos Corberan's side had plenty to work on after their surprise downfall at Hillsborough, however it seems that complacency and over-confidence were still present in the Albion dressing room, as the home side put in another lacklustre performance on Tuesday night against Middlesbrough, which saw them drop to third in the EFL Championship table.
This Saturday, the Baggies have another chance to rectify their errors, with an opportunity to end their three game week on a high. The midlands based team will host London outfit Millwall, in what will need a much better attacking performance from the home side if they are to take all three points.
Making the Hawthorns a fortress is vital
Last season West Brom won 15 games from home out of a possible 23, drawing an additional four and losing four.
This is extremely important when challenging for the playoffs, making your home stadium a fortress, in other words, winning as many games as possible. This is what massively helped the Baggies to finish in the playoffs, as their away form throughout the season resulted in more defeats than victories.
This campaign, the Hawthorns has hosted three games, with the Albion winning one, drawing one and losing one. If they want to be a serious playoff and potentially automatic promotion candidate, then they need their home ground to be somewhere where teams will not win.
West Brom's last two home fixtures against Millwall have both ended 0-0, so Carlos' men will be desperate to finally get that win against a team they have not had too much success against in the last few years.
Squad depth is so important
The Championship is 46 games long, meaning often teams will have to play three games in a week, therefore having a big squad is so important to keep up with the amount of games they play.
The Baggies conducted some smart business in the summer transfer window, bringing in a total of 11 players, increasing their squad size substantially whilst also reducing their wage bill and average age.
Although they did lose their best defender last season in Cedric Kipre and arguably their best midfielder Okay Yokuslu this summer, they brought in players that have that quality to boost their squad and help the team to success.
West Brom will of course have to rotate their squad once again against Millwall to reduce any risk of injury and fatigue in their squad, meaning key players may miss out on Saturday. This is why not only having squad depth, but quality in that depth is so important if they want to compete at the top.
How Tom Fellows can decide the game
Luckily for the Baggies, Tom Fellows was rested against Middlesbrough in midweek, so it is very likely that the 21-year-old attacker will feature on Saturday against the Lions.
This will be a huge boost for the Albion, as Fellows will offer some much needed attacking threat after Jed Wallace's uninspiring performance on Tuesday.
The England Under 21s international already has five assists in eight games so far this season and will be vital for the Albion if they are to break down Millwall's defence.
His ability to take on his man and deliver in pinpoint crosses is why he is such a great attacking threat, and with Josh Maja scoring for fun at the moment, Millwall will need their defenders to be especially on top of their game if they are to keep goals out.
Millwall's away form may help West Brom
Millwall's most recent game was away against Cardiff City, a team who had not won a single game before hosting the Lions on Tuesday night, where they won 1-0.
On top of that, Millwall have not won an away game so far this season, playing four, losing two and drawing two whilst also not travelling to any team in the current top 8.
This current bad form away from home could play into the hands of West Brom, who will hope to capitalise on a potentially demoralised visiting team.
