You will see a change, Steve Bruce promises West Brom fans

Under former head coach Valerien Ismael, Albion played a rigid 3-4-3 system in every match.

And having only arrived last week, Bruce admits he has questioned how many tactical changes he can make due to the players being so familiar with that formation.

In the end, though, he has decided to switch things up.

“I toyed with that – they have been playing a certain way and they haven’t changed at all,” the 61-year-old said when asked if it will be difficult to break away from Ismael’s 3-4-3.

“But the first thing I have done is implement change.

“So I’m sure everyone will see, without giving anything away, a difference.”

Bruce is a manager who believes it’s important to have a couple of formations up your sleeve.

“At Hull we played three at the back and got up,” he continued. At Birmingham, I never played a four.

“I have played a four at the back but I have played with a back three. I’m flexible.

“In our squad we have got seven centre-halves, so you can see the previous manager was going to play three at the back and be rigid with it. That’s no problem.

“But I’d like to think I would be a little more flexible so that I’ve got one or two systems in my locker I can go to.

“I think you have to be flexible. I think that’s important.”

Meanwhile, Bruce confirmed Sam Johnstone will return to Albion’s starting line-up tomorrow.

The goalkeeper missed the last two games following a falling out with Ismael – although the Frenchman had always insisted he would return at Bramall Lane.

“Sam Johnstone will play,” Bruce added.

“I’ve worked with him before. Butts (David Button) has done nothing wrong.

“But I’ve worked with Sam before, he is a very talented goalkeeper as we have seen.

“I’m not interested in what happened two or three weeks ago.

“Sam will start. It was a difficult decision because the other lad (Button) has done nothing wrong.

“But I’ve let down eight players today who can feel, justifiably, disappointed because I haven’t picked them in my first game. But I’ve assured them, around the corner, they will get their chance.”

Two players who won't feature at Bramall Lane however are Kyle Bartley and Matt Phillips.

"Unfortunately we have a couple of issues in terms of fitness ahead of the game," Bruce said.

“We might have lost Kyle Bartley because he is sick and Matty Phillips because he has a foot injury. We don’t know the extent of it at this moment in time.

“It’s part and parcel of the game. We’re going to pick up injuries along the way.”