West Bromwich Albion welcome Queen’s Park Rangers to the Hawthorns on Saturday looking to make it three wins in eight days after they followed up the victory at Carrow Road with a Carabao Cup victory over Luton Town.
Albion’s position at the bottom of the table last season means that they have to play in the first round of the EFL Cup, while both Stoke and Swansea received a bye into the second round along with all Premier League clubs, and the Baggies have been drawn against Luton Town at the Hawthorns.
After escaping from the City Ground with a scarcely deserved point, but which nonetheless could easily have been three, Darren Moore takes his side to Carrow Road with at least the comfort that they are off the mark.
After a disappointing opening day defeat at home to Bolton Wanderers, Darren Moore’s men face a tough test in their first televised fixture of the season as they take on Nottingham Forest at the City Ground, but have a new face in the shape of Dwight Gayle to offer hope of a change in fortune.
It doesn’t seem like twelve weeks since the Baggies completed their league campaign with defeat to Crystal Palace, but here we are again just a few days before the whole thing starts again with a Hawthorns encounter with Bolton Wanderers.
The hopes of a miracle escape were finally dashed on Tuesday evening as Southampton beat Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium to confirm Albion’s inevitable relegation, albeit much later than we all expected. While Darren Moore might not have saved the Baggies from the drop, he has certainly saved the season.