PREVIEW: West Bromwich Albion (H)
Derby County Football Club · unknown author · 2026-09-09T12:33:22+00:00 · nguồn gốc
Wed 09 Sep - Posted in Breaking News
Time to read: 4mins
Derby County will be in midweek action on home turf for the first time in 2026/27 when they host West Bromwich Albion at Pride Park Stadium on Wednesday night (7.45pm kick-off).
The Rams will be looking to bounce back in the Sky Bet Championship following defeat at West Ham United on Saturday – having secured their first win of the season on deadline day away to Portsmouth.
Hear from the Head Coach:
Hear from David Ozoh, who gave his first word since making his permanent deadline-day move to Derby:
After a flirt with the relegation zone last season, tonight’s visitors West Bromwich Albion will be hoping their six-season stay in the Championship ends next spring with an exit from the division via the other end of the table.
While not going to the final weekend of the season, the Baggies’ battle to stay in the second-tier last term was a bit too close for comfort, especially for a club that has spent more than half of the seasons played since the turn of the Millennium in the Premier League.
In the end, the West Midlands club finished one place, but four points, above the drop zone; safety achieved in no small part by a turnaround in results under the guidance of James Morrison after he took charge with a dozen games to go.
Albion won their first two games of the current Championship campaign, followed by a defeat, a draw and another victory last weekend against Watford.
James Morrison enters his second season at the helm in the West Midlands. As a player, the Scottish midfielder earned legendary status across 12 seasons at The Hawthorns, where he made over 341 appearances – over 300 of which came in the Premier League.
After retiring in 2019, Morrison began coaching in Albion’s academy and became a first-team coach in December 2020 under Sam Allardyce.
Morrison left the Baggies for a permanent position on Steve Clarke’s coaching staff with the Scotland National Team in summer 2023, but he returned to West Brom and became Caretaker Manager for the first time in April 2025.
He took up an interim post once more last season when Eric Ramsay was sacked in February 2026. Losing only one of his 11 games in charge at the end of last season as the Baggies staved off relegation, the higher-ups appointed Morrison to the permanent role at the end of April.
Norwegian international Aune Heggebø was West Brom’s leading scorer last season with ten goals in all competitions; nine coming in the league.
He moved to the Hawthorns in July 2025 after seven years with Brann in the Norwegian Eliteserien, where he scored 50 goals at a ratio of better than one every three games. He made his senior debut for Norway a few months after becoming a Baggie.
The Baggies signed nine senior outfield players during the transfer window. Of those nine, seven were 23 or younger, five were signed from outside the UK, and seven had not played in the Championship before.
Goalkeeper Matt Ingham (Oxford United) and left-back Conor Townsend (Ipswich Town) were the only two signings who added experience at over 30 years old, while Norwegian midfielder Felix Horn Myhre (SK Brann) also joins at 27.
The younger additions are defenders Nolan Galves (Rodez AF) and Brayann Pereira (NEC Nijmegen); midfielders Rabby Nzingoula (Strasbourg) and Toby Collyer (Manchester United); and attackers Jimmy-Jay Morgan (Chelsea) and Barney Stewart (Falkirk).
Late drama was the theme last season as the Rams were undefeated against the Baggies, winning two in West Bromwich and drawing at Pride Park Stadium – first winning via penalty shoot-out on the road in Round One of the Carabao Cup, after a last-minute Joe Ward free-kick took the match to penalties.
Derby returned to The Hawthorns a month later, where a positive Rams result was sealed, with Andi Weimann scoring the only goal of the game in the 84th minute.
On home turf, Patrick Agyemang’s 44th-minute goal inside a packed penalty area looked to see three points coming Derby’s way, but Chris Mepham’s header in the final minute bounced just over the goal line to see the spoils shared.
Head-to-Head Record
Find out more about tickets for Derby's Pride Park meeting with West Bromwich Albion by clicking here.
Live audio commentary for all of Derby County’s first team matches in the 2026/27 season - both league and cup fixtures - is available to RamsTV Audio subscribers based both in the UK and internationally.
Information about RamsTV's Video Live Streaming and other services for the 2026/27 season can be found here.
Pride Park Stadium