Albion Under-21s play their first Premier League 2 home clash of 2026/27 against Nottingham Forest on Friday evening (ko 7pm).
Leigh Downing’s youngsters have scored eight goals and are unbeaten in their last three matches across all competitions.
Their opponents, Forest, were beaten 5-1 by Sunderland in their opening league match, but showed strength to bounce back with a notable scalp over Manchester City and with victory over Burnley.
Last time out
The young Baggies will be disappointed not to have claimed all three points in their most recent league match.
They stormed into a 4-2 lead over Derby County thanks to braces from Jack Bray and Ollie Bostock, but were pegged back by the Rams to draw at Long Eaton.
Venue
The club's youngsters will step out at the Alexander Stadium for the first time this term on Friday night.
It's been non-stop travel for the starlets in navy-blue-and-white, who've played six consecutive away matches since the beginning on the season, so playing at the Alex will be a welcome occasion for the Albion hopefuls.
Pre-match thoughts
Youngster Matty Crowther has enjoyed getting a glimpse of what it’s like to be part of the first-team setup at the Baggies.
The midfielder, who hails from the North East, has featured on the senior bench for clashes with Newcastle United and QPR after going away on the club’s pre-season training camp in Portugal.
In between, the 2024/25 Academy Player of the Season has been working hard to propel Leigh Downing’s U21 side up the league table and progress them in cup competitions - being involved in recent wins over Coventry City in the PL Cup and Boston United in the National League Cup respectively.
And with Nottingham Forest the opponents for their final game before the international break on Friday, Crowther hopes to “fuel” his first-team ambitions by helping the PL2 team continue their positive form.
He said: “We can take a lot of confidence from last week’s National League Cup game. Not only the result, but the togetherness of the performance; it shows how much we’ve come on as a group.
“Yes, it’s about development at this age, but having the grit between your teeth to try and get results out of games is important because that’s the next step we want to reach. It’s a results-based industry and results matter - those types of performances show that winning matters to us.
“The professional game is what we all aspire to. It’s great playing as a group at 21s level, to try and develop ourselves as players. There aren’t many other opportunities where you can show your abilities against senior opposition, and we want to build our careers from there.
“Being with the senior team has been a great experience for me. It doesn’t just help me technically, but it helps me to be around great players every day. I think, psychologically, being in a changing room with the first team helps you see how much it means to win each game.
“It’s given me the motivational drive to be playing for this club week in, week out. Getting these experiences early on has added further fuel to the fire to want to achieve that goal. When you’re in PL2 matches, it only makes you want to do better because of the experiences you’ve had in the first team.
“Every match is a chance to show what I can do, and I can’t let those opportunities slip now. It’s encouraged me to keep improving my game on both the technical and physical side; it’s something I’ve got to keep working on. It comes with having a great manager, which I do at first team and U21s level.
“With Friday’s match, we need to look at our last two games against Coventry City and Boston United. We’ve had two clean sheets and two wins, and we’ve got to take those results in our stride.
“We just need to use our momentum as we go into this game. We know it’s the last game before the international break and we don’t want to go into it with any regrets. We want to continue our season in the positive way we’ve started it.”
How to follow
PL2 ticket prices have remained the same as the last campaign, at £5 adults and £1 concessions, which can be purchased on the gate.
Men’s season ticket holders will still be able to gain free entry to all Premier League 2 fixtures.
Alternatively, WBA TV+ subscribers will be able to watch a live stream of the game here from 6.50pm.
Supporters can also keep up-to-date with Friday’s PL2 match across the club’s social media channels, with half-time, full-time, and goal updates as they go in.
A match report and highlights will be available after the game.
