Preview: Preston North End vs. West Bromwich Albion - prediction, team news, lineups

West Bromwich Albion make the trip to Deepdale to face Preston North End on Monday night requiring a win to return to the top of the Championship table.

Meanwhile, two defeats in a row have left the home side down in sixth position, nine points adrift of frontrunners Leeds United.

Match preview

When West Brom were held to draws by Barnsley and Charlton Athletic at the Hawthorns at the back end of October, Slaven Bilic would have been concerned that his side had lost the momentum they had generated during the early months of the campaign.

However, four successive wins during November have helped the Baggies put some distance between themselves and the chasing pack, with four points currently the difference with a game in hand.

While recording a 4-1 victory over Bristol City last week caught the eye, Bilic would have been more satisfied having witnessed his side have to grind out success against Stoke City, Hull City and Sheffield Wednesday respectively.

There had been concerns about a backline which struggled to keep clean sheets during the opening stages of the season, but conceding just twice in four outings can only provide the West Midlands outfit with confidence heading into an important double-header with Preston and Swansea City.

Despite having shown signs of being a direct rival to West Brom, Preston's level has dropped off in recent games, leaving Alex Neil to contemplate changes to his team.

Having been confident of gaining at least a point at Hull last Wednesday, Neil would have been bitterly disappointed to watch his side ship four goals over a 47-minute period at the KCOM Stadium.

The Scot can only hope that the heavy defeat acts as a wake-up call ahead of a hectic period in the second tier, with Preston now at risk of dropping out of the playoff places.

While it is still relatively early days during the season, Neil knows that their current losing streak cannot be prolonged in a division which remains as competitive as ever.

Preston North End form: DWWWLL

West Bromwich Albion form: DDWWWW

Team News

Bilic has a fully-fit squad to choose from ahead of Monday night's game, which could lead to an unchanged starting lineup being selected.

Having scored four times from his last five outings, Hal Robson-Kanu should keep his place in the team ahead of Charlie Austin.

As for Preston, Darnell Fisher should be ready to return from injury to feature at right-back, although Andrew Hughes will miss the game having suffered a broken toe.

Jayden Stockley could get the nod over Paul Gallagher in attack.

Preston North End possible starting lineup: Rudd; Fisher, Bauer, Davies, Rafferty; Gallagher, Pearson; Maguire, Johnson, Barkhuizen; Stockley

West Bromwich Albion possible starting lineup: Johnstone; Ferguson, Bartley, Ajayi, Gibbs; Livermore, Sawyers; Phillips, Pereira, Diangana; Robson-Kanu

We say: Preston North 1-2 West Bromwich Albion

Having suffered two setbacks in succession, facing an in-form West Brom side has come at the wrong time for Preston. While we feel that the home club may put in an improved performance, the Baggies may have too much quality in the final third.