Albion Under-21s are looking to end a run of four matches without a win in all competitions when they play Derby County on Friday night (ko 7pm).
Despite recent results not going the way of Richard Beale’s young team, it could mean opportunities and minutes for those who haven’t featured as much this term when the Baggies’ PL2 team travel to the East Midlands.
Last time out
Albion were well beaten by Man City’s young pros last weekend.
The defeat leaves the boys from the Black Country in 21st place in the PL2 standings heading into their next clash against the Rams.
Venue
Beale’s team will visit the Proctor Cars stadium on Friday evening.
It is also the home of Northern Premier Division side Matlock Town.
Pre-match thoughts
Professional Development Phase boss Beale insists he's had a good week of preparation with the players ahead of their next game.
The 21s chief has been leading the club’s young pros for more than three years now, and in that time has guided the 2021/22 group to Premier League Cup success against local rivals Wolves.
Beale knows the characteristics required to succeed in the professional game and believes those who can react to recent performances at the next opportunity by showing “resilience, fight and character” will reach the levels they’re looking for.
And he hopes the PL2 squad can show their desire to improve against Derby under the lights on Friday evening.
He said: “We’re all looking forward to the next game.
“Derby are competitive, and always a good test for us and we’ve had a good week’s training to get the boys ready for it.
“You’ve got to have character and you have to learn to win, lose and draw. The ones who do that best and show resilience, fight and character will go on.
“We think we’ve got a lot of good characters and people in the group, so we roll onto the next challenge and look forward to putting it right.
“We started four scholars against Man City, which is really good for those lads - getting exposure at a level which is going to test them and that is how you bring players on. If they’re doing well in the 18s, that’s how they get rewarded.
“That’s our way of doing things and that’s where we’re at as an academy.”
How to follow
Owing to a first-team fixture being played on the same day, we will be unable to provide live coverage of Friday’s match between the U21s and Derby.
The full report and reaction to the game will be available on the club website over the weekend.
