Valerien Ismael sticking to his principles at West Brom

The Baggies welcome Mark Warburton’s side to The Hawthorns looking to get back to winning ways having drawn their last three matches.

That winless run has prompted some fans to suggest Ismael should tweak his 3-4-3 system – with the boss having used it in every game this season.

The Frenchman, though, is adamant that is the formation that gives his team the most flexibility.

“I played this formation for three years and this is the most flexible formation I’ve played,” Ismael said.

“Everything moves in one direction. We don’t need to change anything in our formation – we need to score more goals.

“This is the topic at the minute for us. We create a lot of chances. We concede the lowest number of shots on target in the league.

“We have the highest xG (expected goals) in the league. There is nothing wrong, the main focus is to make sure we are more ruthless in the box.”

Meanwhile, Ismael hinted Kean Bryan could make his Albion debut tonight. The centre-back is yet to feature having joined on a free transfer earlier this month.

“He (Bryan) is training well, he’s available now,” Ismael said.

“We’ll see, but so far he’s made everything with the intensity.

“It was much better, better feeling, better understanding and better principle. Now he is more ready.”

Meanwhile, Ismael confirmed fellow centre-back Matt Clarke is back in training following his hamstring strain.

But he said the QPR game will come too soon for the Brighton loanee.

“Everything is on track (with Clarke),” the boss said.

“He’s started to train, he’s back training with the squad, so now it’s just timing - when is the right moment?

“QPR will be too short but from next week we will see which game – do we need to take any risk before the (international) break?

“Or does the player say he is ready, everything is fine?

“He is back in training – but now it is my decision and my job to find the right timing for his next game.”