Albion blogger Jarrod Hill takes a look at the Reading game as the Baggies regroup for action after a long international break.

As a number of our players come back from international duty, we take a look at this weekend’s game against Reading.

My congratulations go out to Marek Cech, as his national team Slovakia have booked their place at the World Cup in South Africa next year. We now wait to see if Cech will be joined by his club mates Chris Wood with New Zealand and Robert Koren for Slovenia through the play-off’s.

In fact we could have a whole host of players at next year’s competition with Gonzalo Jara also confirming his trip, as Chile have qualified from arguably the toughest groups of all in South America.

Onto tomorrow’s game, although Reading are not the team they were a couple of seasons ago, in recent years they have proved difficult opponents for us. This summer saw their squad stripped of their best players and it’s taken them until the last few league games to hit any form.

I am sure the players will be glad to be returning to the Hawthorns after trips to Barnsley and Preston and the fans will turn the volume to maximum, especially after being starved of club football for two weeks.

Not for the first time this season, our injury list is a concern heading into the game. I just can’t wait for the time when I can write a blog leading up to a game and not have to mention our walking wounded.

The good news is the continuing improvement of both Ishmael Miller and James Morrison, who will be like two new signings when ready for first team action. But the news that Chris Brunt, Luke Moore and Graham Dorrans are struggling with niggling injuries is just a continuation of our season so far.

For a number of weeks, I have hoped extra funding could be found to strengthen the squad via loan signings. Although the rumour mill has linked us to a number of defenders, like Gabriel Tamas and Sol Campbell, nothing looks like materialising until the January transfer window.

I still have a slight fear over our strikers and our capability to score enough goals to get out of this division, but then I comfort myself with the confidence that at least one of our midfielders will hit double figures – and my money is on Chris Brunt.

Winger Jerome Thomas is back available for tomorrow’s game and I hope he has not only learned a valuable lesson, but has also been re-energised by his enforced break. When the wide man is on his game I can see him becoming one of our greatest weapons this season, but maybe it’s because I am a self confessed fan of old school wing-play.

If only we could discover the next Laurie Cunningham, but in fact wingers seem to be re-emerging as key parts of many teams. After years of witnessing many sides devoid of width, it now seems managers are again focusing on playing two wide players.

The fact we now have strikers like Roman Bednar and Chris Wood available, who are both decent in the air, serves to feed my desire that we field wingers who can get quality balls into the box.

Tomorrow’s game also re-acquaints Simon Cox with the club who let him go – if he gets on the pitch- although strikers usually return to haunt their past clubs it seems it is a law that only relates to the Baggies in a negative way.

I can name countless former Albion players who have scored against us since leaving, but struggle to name many who have scored for us against their former clubs, with only Kanu springing to mind in recent years.

So lets hope Cox nets against the Royals, Mattock scores against Leicester, and Brunt notches one when we play Sheffield Wednesday!

But I will just settle for a win.