Coventry v West Brom - Match preview
Carlos Corberan has vowed Albion will give their all at Coventry tonight to repay the army of supporters heading down the M6.
The in-form Baggies will be backed by a huge following of 4,500 supporters at the CBS Arena for tonight’s rescheduled Championship Christmas week clash.
That following, in which Albion had to request an extra 500 tickets after selling out their initial allocation, is not lost on head coach Corberan given the current economic struggles.
Despite a midweek clash so close to Christmas, Baggies fans snapped up tickets priced at £33 for adults and £20 for children. Corberan has been blown away by the support since his appointment at The Hawthorns in late October and humbled by the ‘togetherness’ fans shared with himself and the squad, despite what was an alarming league position.
Albion will hope to mark the mammoth following with a sixth straight victory to extend the stunning turnaround on the pitch either side of the recent international break. Defeat of the Sky Blues would lift Albion a huge eight places to eighth in Albion’s game in hand on the rest of the division’s fixtures – and equal the figure set by Slaven Bilic’s promotion-winning clash of 2019/20 three years ago.
“I’ve been told that the club have sold 500 more tickets than they gave us. 4,500 people,” Corberan said.
“That means a lot for us. The game is a Wednesday, the game is on the night, we are in Christmas when families have to make efforts but they’re making no less effort to come and support us.
“From the beginning here, it means a lot. I will always say that we work for the fans. We will like to give our best and try our best for the result. Sometimes it doesn’t work, but what we need to do is make sure we give our best. It’s what our people deserve.”
On the impact of the support, the Spaniard added: “It can only increase our responsibility.
“It’s massive, we know how this support and its togetherness from my first day here, I feel the support of them in the different circumstances.
“It’s been a pleasure to represent this group of people, fans, if I’m not wrong the previous weekend we had the highest attendance in the Championship.
“It means a lot, in the next game they will all travel to support the team in a difficult situation, before Christmas, at night at a game in the week, it means a lot that we can represent them.”
Corberan made light of, having moved away from the bottom three with sights very much set on a top-half assault tonight, what a victory could mean for Albion’s second-tier standing.
Tonight’s clash sees 14th host 16th at the CBS Arena, where City recently agreed a temporary deal to continue playing. The visitors are boosted by the return to availability of Semi Ajayi from a shoulder problem. Kyle Bartley’s return from a thigh problem has been delayed by illness.
Corberan also sounded a note of warning that his side face a more dangerous home side after Mark Robins’ men relinquished a 3-0 lead in the final 22 minutes of Saturday’s home contest against Swansea, which finished 3-3.
