Palace v West Bromwich Albion

Selhurst Park, Wednesday 8.00pm

Crystal Palace

Team news

West Brom currently lie in 11th place and are without a win in their last three games. A loss on Wednesday night would be a blow to the Baggies as it could see them slip further away from the leading pack.

Baggies boss Gary Megson has quite a few decisions to make before the trip to Selhurst Park.

His top scorer Scott Dobie, who has netted nine goals so far this season, is set to miss out due to a groin injury. Also missing will be WBA’s £2million record signing Jason Roberts. This means that Bob Taylor will be partnered by new loan signing Uwe Rosler up front, with James Quinn, West Brom’s only other striking option, on the bench.

It’s not only up front that Megson has injury problems. Phil Gilchrist picked up a wrist injury on Saturday in the 3-2 defeat at Barnsley. The ex Leicester defender will have to undergo a late fitness test to see if he will be able to play with a protective cast around the injured wrist.

Palace on the other hand are flying high and could go top with a win over West Brom. Unlike Megson, Steve Bruce has very few selection problems to worry about.

Steve Vickers is said to have rejected an offer of a contract and has returned to Middlesborough as Boro refused to allow the veteran defender to stay on loan at Selhurst Park for another month.

This will mean that Dean Austin will continue in central defence along side Tony Popovic and Hayden Mullins. However many Palace fans will hope that American defender Gregg Berhalter is chosen by Bruce instead of Austin after Deano gave away a needless penalty in the last minutes of Sunday’s game against Norwich.

It seems that Simon Rodger has been spending too much time around Dougie Freedman, as Palace’s longest serving player is suffering from a touch of flu. Freedman was forced to miss out on last Tuesday’s trip to Burnley because of his flu however the Scottish international soon recovered in time to score against Norwich on Sunday.

Jamie Smith could be another injury casualty. The right wing back is suffering from a knee problem that he picked up last week in the 1-0 defeat at Burnley however he should be available for selection against the Baggies.

West Bromwich Albion - league stats

Full league table

West Bromwich Albion - current form

Full form table

Our home record v West Bromwich Albion

Last five results

Date	Type	Home Team	Score	Away Team
03/02/2001	League	Crystal Palace	2 - 2	West Bromwich Albion
03/09/2000	League	West Bromwich Albion	1 - 0	Crystal Palace
26/10/1999	League	Crystal Palace	0 - 2	West Bromwich Albion
25/09/1999	League	West Bromwich Albion	0 - 0	Crystal Palace
28/12/1998	League	Crystal Palace	1 - 1	West Bromwich Albion

All time results

One to watch

Neil Clement

The former Chelsea defender has proved to be a shrewd buy for the Baggies, and his talent is attracting the likes of Blackburn to the Hawthornes. Though a defender, he likes to attack and has a hand in nearly all West Brom's set pieces, weighing in with 6 goals already this season. A threat from corners and free kicks as well as being a good defender means Clement is the one to watch on Wednesday

Last meeting

English Division

C Palace 2 (2) Forssell 2 Pollock 6 West Brom 2 (1) Sneekes 42 Hughes 55 03-02-2001

C Palace: Kolinko, Smith, Austin, Ruddock, Harrison, Rubins, Rodger, Thomson (Black,64), Pollock, Forssell, Morrison (Freedman,75) Subs not used: Frampton, Carlisle, Kabba,

West Brom: Jensen, Lyttle, Clement, James Chambers, Burgess, Fox (Jordao,79), Appleton, Sneekes, Van Blerk, Hughes, Roberts (Taylor,83) Subs not used Quinn, Adam Chambers, Adamson,

Bookings: None

Attendance: 16692

Referee: M J Jones

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