Bournemouth boss Scott Parker delivers Steve Bruce verdict ahead of West Brom showdown

Bournemouth boss Scott Parker says that he is under no illusions about the task facing his side when they travel to the Hawthorns to take on West Bromwich Albion.

The Cherries are hoping to take one step closer to Premier League promotion with a win over the Baggies, with the game kicking off at 8pm on Wednesday night. When these two sides met in August it ended in a 2-2 draw at the Vitality Stadium.

Back then it seemed likely that the two clubs would be battling it out for automatic promotion alongside Fulham, but the season has not panned out that way. The Cottagers have streaked ahead while the Dorset outfit have batted away competition for second place, but West Brom have drifted so far out of contention they are not even likely to qualify for the play-offs.

Albion have managed just three wins from 15 games in 2022, slipping down to 12th in the Championship table. Despite the horrid form, Steve Bruce's men are still capable of bruising teams, as evidenced by last month's win over Parker's former team Fulham, and the young manager is fully aware of that.

“A very good squad and a good team with vast experience, a team that would have been pushing or wanting to have pushed for promotion this year," Parker said in his pre-match press conference.

“But we're under no illusions. We're going to a place here with a group of players in the team, like a Premier League outfit that can give any team problems on their day, with a good manager.

“So we need to be fully aware of that. We need to go there understanding the dynamics of this game and what it's going to impose on us and obviously impose ourselves. And that's what we're planning to do, hopefully.”

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