Lewis Cox's predicted West Brom line-up for showdown at unbeaten leaders Boro

The Baggies head coach has said he will not stick to the same XI merely because his side are winning - so how will he respond to a first Championship disappointment?

If there are alterations to his starting line-up in Teesside on Friday night it will not be solely down to last Saturday's home reverse to Derby.

Mason has stressed he will judge each fixture and make a call based on the challenges offered by the opposition - and how Albion can provide a threat themselves.

We are at an interesting juncture when it comes to the early stages of the 2025/26 campaign. Many of Albion's nine summer signings arrived later than the middle of August and as such are playing catch-up or getting more in-tune with their new team-mates.

That means we await first starts for several new recruits, including Toby Collyer, Alfie Gilchrist, Charlie Taylor, Sammy Iling-Junior and Krystian Bielik, the latter down to an injury he has now recovered from.

Mason will, one suspects, eventually find an opportunity to give players a chance from the start - though the likelihood is that will come in a couple of weeks when the fixture list heats up with midweek clashes.

I am struggling to see a raft of changes for a difficult looking away fixture at unbeaten leaders Middlesbrough.

There is an intrigue in handing right-back Gilchrist and opportunity in a more natural role than George Campbell playing out there.

The other interest is seeing Manchester United midfield loan prospect Collyer show what he is about from the off.

I toyed with both of those options and eventually left Campbell in my side and introduced Collyer for captain Jed Wallace in a slight tweak to the system, to bring it a little closer to a 4-3-3, with Isaac Price an inverted attacker out to the right side in support of Aune Heggebo, with Mikey Johnston on the other side.

Collyer's energy alongside Alex Mowatt and Jayson Molumby, who have started the season well, is an interesting prospect.

Striker Josh Maja - who Mason said on Thursday is physically ready to start games - is poised to play more minutes than he has of late.

Check out Albion correspondent Lewis Cox's predicted side in full below.

4-3-3:

Josh Griffiths

George Campbell

Nat Phillips

Chris Mepham

Callum Styles

Alex Mowatt

Jayson Molumby

Toby Collyer

Isaac Price

Mikey Johnston

Aune Heggebo

Substitutes: Wildsmith, Bielik, Gilchrist, Taylor, Diakite, Deeming, Wallace, Iling-Junior, Maja.