West Brom v Newcastle: Will Megson call the Toon for final time?

The man himself played down the emotional aspect of the night, and promised to treat it exactly the same as any other of the 600-odd matches he’s managed.

But with the possibility that a new man will be installed this week, Megson has a chance to sign off with a passionate midweek game under lights.

His return to the dug-out coupled with a timely Kids for a Quid offering could bring in a boisterous home crowd. If Wembley was anything to go by, The Hawthorns will be rocking.

On the pitch, there are signs that things are moving forward too, quite literally.

Life after Tony Pulis got off to a promising start on Saturday, when Megson tried to get the players playing further up the pitch.

It worked, in the first half at least, and the game got off to a stunning start when Salomon Rondon opened the scoring in the fourth minute.

Megson promised Albion fans a similar sprint out of the blocks tonight.

“We always try to play at a high tempo, every team I have ever had tries to start high tempo,” he said. “I am a firm believer you try to start as high as you can and keep it going for as long as you can. That is why we do the fitness work.

“I am not one of these that likes everyone to get a pass in the game and gradually grow into the game because the first goal is so important, especially at this level.

“Ideally you will go straight into a game playing good football and ideally score first.”

But Albion put in a lot of effort at Wembley, and ran furthest than any other team had in the Premier League this season (121.21km collectively).

Megson admitted that might take its toll on some of his players and even though he’s reluctant to drop anyone from Saturday, it could force him into a few changes.

“The pitch itself was energy sapping,” he admitted. “The energy they put in, we’ll have to see how they are.

“On Sunday they were ok. We’ve got a good doctor here and a great support staff in terms of strength and conditioning and they brought everybody in at 10 o’clock.

“They were all massaged and the people that didn’t play a great deal did a little bit of running on the pitches. But sometimes when you settle down there will be one or two stiff limbs.

“We’ll have to look whether we change things for running reasons rather than football reasons.”

Despite the promising performance against Spurs, Albion are still 12 games without a win in all competitions and still just one place above the bottom three.

Megson told his players there’s no point battling to a point against Spurs if you don’t follow it up at home to Newcastle.

“We pick up where we left off down at Wembley against Tottenham,” he said. “There are a lot of things we can be pleased about. In isolation, that’s no good.

“We’ve got to use that now and keep doing it. We know people can do it - but they’ve got to do it all the time.

“I won’t look any further than the Newcastle game and nor will the players but it’s an opportunity for us because we’ve just played well and got a good point.

"Now we’re at home and hopefully we can play as well as that and convert it into three points.”

Nacer Chadli (thigh), James Morrison (Achilles) and Craig Dawson (knee) are all still sidelined, while Chris Brunt faces a late fitness test on his thigh strain.

“I was hoping he’d be involved on Saturday but he’s feeling his calf a little bit,” said Megson. “He’ll have a go on it today.

“This is a big club but in terms of Premier League status it’s not as big as some. Once we get three or four injuries, it really starts to bite.

“Chris was in the thinking. His set-peices are as good as anyone in the Premier League and he has the ability to score from distance as well.”

Brunt has done a lot for this club over the past decade, but nobody has made as much of an impact since the turn of the century as Megson.

Whatever happens tonight, he is sure to get a rousing reception from a Hawthorns crowd who believe things are now on the up.

“I had a great relationship with the supporters when I was here before,” said Megson. “I enjoyed working here because of them.

“There were other things I didn’t enjoy as much but I enjoyed them because I like the humour and the passion they’ve got for it.

“They seemed to feed off myself and what I was doing on the touchline. I’ve calmed down now.

“But it was a good relationship and it always will be regardless of what happens.”

Albion's key man - Salomon Rondon

The much-maligned striker put in his best all-round performance in nearly 12 months at Wembley. Time to do it in front of the home crowd at The Hawthorns.

Newcastle's dangerman - Aleksandar Mitrovic

There have been impassioned calls in the North East for the Serbian to start more games for a goal-shy Newcastle team and in this three-game week, Benitez might turn to his volatile striker.

Likely line-ups

Albion (3-5-2): Foster, Nyom, Hegazi, Evans, Phillips, Livermore, Barry, Field, Gibbs, Rondon, Rodriguez. Subs: Myhill, McAuley, Yacob, Krychowiak, McClean, Burke, Robson-Kanu

Newcastle (4-4-2): Elliot, Manquillo, Clark, Lejeune, Haidara, Murphy, Merino, Shelvey, Ritchie, Mitrovic, Perez. Subs: Darlow, Yedlin, Diame, Hayden, Aarons, Joselu, Gayle.