Time for West Brom to go FA Cup crazy

Tony Pulis is on course to deliver the top-half finish that eluded him at Stoke and Crystal Palace, and if his team continue on this trajectory, the Baggies may even topple their best Premier League points tally of 49 won under Steve Clarke four seasons ago.

It is premature to say survival is already guaranteed but with Pulis at the helm and the team playing as well as they are, relegation concerns are swiftly diminishing.

Which is why the FA Cup third round match against Derby County in just over a month should be the main fixture circled in the calendar.

Football is about two things. Entertainment and glory.

Pulis has rarely been associated with the former, but he has managed to excite supporters over the past few weeks.

Albion have scored 12 goals in their last five home games, and only one team outside the top five have hit the back of the net more times this season.

As for the latter, the Baggies have won seven major honours in the club's history, but if you don't count the 2008 Championship title, they haven't lifted a major trophy since 1968.

There is a whole generation of supporters hungry for silverware.

Leicester ripped up the rule book last season, but it appears normal service has resumed in the league now a more traditional top five is starting to break away from the chasing pack.

Repeating what the Foxes did is a pipe dream. The FA Cup, however, offers Pulis and Albion a shot at a trophy.

With the big-money teams preoccupied with the title race and the Champions League, mid-table clubs have flourished in this old competition recently.

Wigan Athletic won it in 2013, the same season they were relegated, and the last three finals have featured Hull City, Aston Villa, and Crystal Palace.

Without the spectre of relegation looming over the Baggies, this is a chance to put effort and attention on the Cup.

It's always embarrassing losing to lower-league opposition, but the reason August's defeat to Northampton Town in the League Cup stung so much is because it snuffed out one of two shots at winning something before the season had even got up and running.

However, those angry scenes in the away end at Sixfields feel a long time ago now.

Based on recent performances, Pulis has built a team capable of challenging in the FA Cup, and history suggests he will do his utmost to do exactly that.

He took Stoke to their first FA Cup final in 2011, bringing Europa League football to the Potteries in the process, and he took the Baggies to the quarter-finals in his first season at The Hawthorns.

Last year, Albion's FA Cup run ended in shambolic circumstances at old cup foes Reading, but the team still fought tooth and nail through replays with Bristol City and Peterborough to get to that stage.

Steve McClaren has started to turn around Derby's fortunes in recent weeks and the Rams are currently on a five-match winning streak. They will be no pushover.

But a home tie against lower-league opposition does offer a great opportunity to progress to the next round.

It's not the worst draw in the world, and there are plenty of ex-Albion players in the Derby ranks that may add another facet to the game.

Matej Vydra, Scott Carson, Chris Baird, and George Thorne are all currently plying their trade at Pride Park, and even though Thorne suffered a nasty leg break earlier this year, he's expected to return to action this month.

If Pulis has fond memories of the FA Cup, then Albion have history in spades. Five times winners and 10 times finalists, they've reached the semi-final stage on 20 occasions, and the last time was only eight years ago.

Now the club is entering a new era of ambition, it is time to throw everything into another Cup run.