Preview: West Bromwich Albion vs. Southampton

West Bromwich Albion will be looking to avoid a third straight defeat when they entertain Southampton at The Hawthorns on Monday night.

Manager Steve Clark will give late fitness tests to Shane Long (knee) and Claudio Yacob (hamstring), while Jerome Thomas and Steven Reid look certain to miss out.

However, Chris Brunt's return will be a welcome boost for the eighth-placed Baggies.

Long's absence could give Romelu Lukaku the chance to stake his claim for a regular starting role.

Saints boss Nigel Adkins has injury problems of his own, with star signing Gaston Ramirez struggling to overcome a thigh strain.

Frazer Richardson (groin) and Jack Cork (knee) are still missing for the Premier League strugglers, who find themselves 19th in the Premier League with just one win from nine games.

Recent form

West Brom: WDWLL

Southampton: WLDLL

Possible lineups:

West Brom: Foster; Tamas, McAuley, Olsson, Ridgewell; Morrison, Mulumbu; Odemwingie, Gera, Dorrans; Lukaku

Southampton: Boruc; Clyne, Yoshida, Fonte, Fox; Ramirez, Schneiderlin, S Davis, Lallana; Lambert, Rodriguez

Sports Mole says: 2-0