Opposition View: West Bromwich Albion

- Tony Pulis expects Leicester City to pose problems for his West Bromwich Albion side on Saturday
- The Welshman watched City's 1-0 defeat by Arsenal at Emirates Stadium on Wednesday evening
- Pulis revealed that Matt Phillips and Hal Robson-Kanu will miss the clash with hamstring injuries
- Missing both will be a "blow" to the Baggies' chances, Pulis admits, but he remains confident

Tony Pulis has revealed that he attended Leicester City’s 1-0 defeat by Arsenal at Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night to prepare for the visit of the Foxes to the Hawthorns.

The Baggies manager has guided the West Midlands club to eighth in the Premier League table with just five matches remaining of the 2016/17 campaign. Pulis believes City were unfortunate not to return from north London with a positive result after a determined display went unrewarded. 

“I went and watched them on Wednesday,” Pulis told the media on Friday morning. “They played really well and they were very, very unfortunate not to get a result at Arsenal. They’ve got some good players and, as their fans were singing, they know who they are – the champions of England.” 

Pulis will go head-to-head with Foxes boss Craig Shakespeare for the first time on Saturday and the Welshman commended his counterpart on the job he has done at the Club since taking charge. Shakespeare both played and coached at West Brom before a spell as caretaker manager in 2006. 

“He was a decent player," Pulis said. "He got his first opportunity and he's done a good job since taking over. He's a good football man, been in football for a long time. This is the first time he's had the chance to lead a team.” 

West Brom will be without the services of winger Matt Phillips and Welsh forward Hal Robson-Kanu through injury. Both players pulled up with hamstring problems in training on Tuesday and could be out for two weeks. 

“They'll both miss this game and the following week I should imagine,” Pulis added. “It is disappointing - picking any injuries up in training. To get two in one day was bad luck in lots of respects, but we've done very well this year injury-wise. It's a bit of a blow for us, especially in respect of the forwards because we wanted to keep them fit as much as possible.”