West Brom vs Derby

The playoff hopes of West Bromwich Albion have died out as they prepare to host dangerous Derby County at The Hawthorns during the Easter Monday Championship matchup.

West Bromwich Albion faced their most recent match loss to Coventry City at CBS Arena while Derby County let Luton Town secure a crucial victory for relegation survival in East Midlands.

Shortly after his managerial appointment Tony Mowbray announced his plan to "take the handbrake off" the West Brom squad in order to pursue promotion back to the Premier League after the club had not participated in the top flight for 17 years.

The Baggies suffered a damaging defeat at Coventry as Jack Rudoni and Matt Grimes scored during the first half at the Ricoh Arena thus ending any chance of playoffs after a string of four losses in the last five second-tier games.

Mowbray's troops find themselves at eighth position in the Championship ladder since earning just three points from their recent five second-tier fixtures before Monday's Derby encounter where they trail sixth-place Coventry by six points with nine points remaining.

West Brom faces difficult opponents in Derby County and Cardiff City followed by Luton Town before the term ends though it seems highly improbable for the team to reach top six at this moment.

Adam Armstrong who is on loan at The Hawthorns must deliver goals for West Brom against Derby County because The Hawthorns remains one of the stingiest defensive facilities in the Championship despite 14 goals conceded in 21 matches this season.

It seemed as though John Eustace's Derby would be saying goodbye to the Championship relegation race after an incredible run of four consecutive wins between the beginning of March and April, but during the past two weeks, the East Midlanders have been pulled back into the scrap.

On Good Friday, in front of 32,000 fans at Pride Park, the relegation-threatened Rams extended their winless run in the second division to a very worrying four games as Irishman Millenic Alli's goal in the first half was sufficient to clinch maximum points for fellow struggling team Luton.