Carlos Corberán believes there are a number of factors which will make Saturday’s Sky Bet Championship fixture at Middlesbrough a “totally different” encounter to the reverse one at The Hawthorns.
The Baggies and the Boro played out a six-goal thriller in August, with Corberán’s men coming out 4-2 winners thanks to efforts from Cedric Kipre, John Swift, Brandon Thomas-Asante and Jeremy Sarmiento.
The hosts head into this weekend’s clash in mid-table, while Albion occupy one of the four play-off positions inside the top six.
But the boss explained several things have changed since that battle in B71 four months ago, including starting line-ups and team shape, and Carlos insists Michael Carrick’s side will turn up in confident fashion having secured a spot in the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup in midweek.
Corberán said: “We’re heading into this fixture against Middlesbrough knowing it’s going to be totally different to the one back in August at The Hawthorns.
“You can analyse the starting XI for them and for us and it will be totally different. You can also look at our shape and their shape from that first game, it’s a little bit different now too.
“Because of this, I expect a totally different challenge and a totally different game.
“Middlesbrough are a team I have been following and watch regularly, so I feel as though I know them well. They know us well too, so it’s going to be one of those games which is special, challenging and great to be involved in.
“They had a good win in the Carabao Cup in midweek and I expect some of those players who featured at Port Vale to play again against us this weekend.
“I was watching that particular game and I’ve also been watching their previous games.
“They are one team who have a lot of possibilities, but I also know they have had some injuries in previous weeks.
“They will have lots of confidence because they have made it through to the semi-finals of one competition and they are always competing well in the Championship.
“Middlesbrough have a very good squad a very good coach in Michael Carrick who is doing an exceptional job. They will press a lot and they will try to be dominant. That’s the style Carrick has implemented. They have a lot of quality and it’s difficult to recover the ball from them.”
