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West Brom logo
Championship | Gameweek 38
Jun 20, 2020 at 3pm UK
The Hawthorns
Birmingham logo

West Brom
0 - 0
Birmingham


Edwards (75')
FT

Crowley (29'), Clarke-Salter (65'), Kieftenbeld (90+1')

Slaven Bilic insists West Brom are "ready" for Championship restart

Slaven Bilic insists West Brom are
© Reuters
West Brom are second ahead of their home match against Birmingham on Saturday.

Slaven Bilic insists West Brom are ready to hit the ground running as they prepare for the Sky Bet Championship restart.

The Baggies resume their promotion bid lying in second spot, a point behind Leeds and six ahead of third-placed Fulham.

Birmingham visit The Hawthorns in the first round of fixtures since the suspension of football in March, and Bilic feels his side are in good shape for the challenge ahead.

"It's been a long time, but we were focused from day one," the Baggies boss told the club website.

"We are at the stage where we are ready to be playing competitive games.

"The players will get their confidence and their rhythm – they might need some time of course. But for the start, we couldn't be any better really.

"We know it's going to be extremely hard, it's a new situation for everybody. There's a lot at stake.

"Physically and psychologically there's going to be big pressure on us, but as I say always – special achievements and extraordinary achievements don't come by default. You have to earn them. And I think we are ready."

With Leeds playing at Cardiff on Sunday West Brom are primed to take top spot, temporarily at least.

Fulham face a west London derby with another side in the play-off spots, Brentford.

The English Football League has confirmed the dates for the play-offs, with the semi-final first legs being played on July 26 and 27 and the return matches taking place on July 29 and 30 ahead of a Wembley final on August 4.

"We're looking forward to playing games again and doing what we love to do," defender Tim Ream told Fulham TV.

"It's been a long time coming. To start off with a derby is going to be strange with no one in the stands, but the intensity will be there. We know what's at stake."

Nottingham Forest, in fifth, travel to Sheffield Wednesday while sixth-placed Preston head to lowly Luton.

Elsewhere Millwall host Derby, Middlesbrough entertain Swansea and Charlton travel to Hull.

Rock-bottom Barnsley head to QPR, Blackburn welcome Bristol City and Stoke go to Reading.

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Fulham's Aleksandar Mitrovic celebrates with Joe Bryan after scoring on February 8, 2020
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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
CLeicester CityLeicester463141189414897
3Leeds UnitedLeeds462791081433890
4Southampton462691187632487
5West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom4621121370472375
6Norwich CityNorwich4621101579641573
7Hull City461913146860870
8Middlesbrough46209177162969
9Coventry CityCoventry4617131670591164
10Preston North EndPreston46189195667-1163
11Bristol City461711185351262
12Cardiff CityCardiff46195225370-1762
13Millwall461611194555-1059
14Swansea CitySwansea461512195965-657
15Watford461317166161056
16Sunderland46168225254-256
17Stoke CityStoke461511204960-1156
18Queens Park RangersQPR461511204758-1156
19Blackburn RoversBlackburn461411216074-1453
20Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds46158234468-2453
21Plymouth ArgylePlymouth461312215970-1151
RBirmingham CityBirmingham461311225065-1550
RHuddersfield TownHuddersfield46918194877-2945
RRotherham UnitedRotherham46512293789-5227


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