David Prutton reckons that West Brom will be able to keep their promotion ambitions alive with a win over Rotherham on Saturday.
The Baggies played out a 0-0 stalemate with Reading on Monday night, and Prutton says it is important that they finish above rivals Aston Villa to ensure that the second leg of their likely play-off semi-final is staged at the Hawthorns.
The Sky Sports pundit expects James Shan’s team to pick up all three points against a relegation threatened Rotherham side, tipping them to win 3-1, which is worth bearing in mind when looking at Ladbrokes latest sign up offers.
“It is almost certain that we are going to get a West Brom vs Aston Villa play-off semi-final now, which is absolutely tantalising. The Baggies need to keep going, though, because they will be desperate to finish above their rivals and ensure the second leg takes place at The Hawthorns,” he told Sky Sports.
“Rotherham have led in three of their last four matches but have managed to lose every single one. They badly need a win to keep their survival hopes alive but West Brom will pick them apart if they go for it.”
OPINION
A semi-final between West Brom and Villa is looking very likely, and what a showdown that would be. Both sides are desperate to get back into the Premier League after being recently relegated, so it is likely that we will see fireworks over the course of the two fixtures. However, they will need to beat Rotherham before they can prepare for their semi-final. Being a side threatened with the drop, Rotherham are going to prove to be hard to beat, as they will be desperate to source and secure their Championship status for another season. Nevertheless, you would expect that a team like West Brom would be able to brush a team like Rotherham aside with ease, especially if they are aiming to get back into the top-flight. It is hard to see anything other than a Baggies win here, just as Prutton predicted – particularly if Dwight Gayle is having a good day.