Premier League preview: West Brom v Man United

West Brom are likely to be vulnerable at the back when Manchester United’s powerful strikeforce visits the Hawthorns on Saturday.

Key defenders Gabriel Tamas and Gonzalo Jara will both miss the important clash through suspension.

Romania international Tamas starts a three-game ban following his second-half red card in the 3-1 defeat by Blackburn on Tuesday.

The Baggies centre-half was given his marching orders for a foul on Mame Biram Diouf three minutes from time.

He will not only miss the Manchester United game but also the league clash with Fulham and the FA Cup third-round trip to Reading.

Jara will also sit out the New Year’s Day clash with the Red Devils after he collected his fifth yellow card of the campaign against Rovers.

“Gabi is a big loss because Jonas is already out,” said West Brom manager Roberto Di Matteo.

“Jara will also be suspended against United so we’re struggling a bit at the back at the moment.”

To add to Di Matteo’s defensive headaches, Jonas Olsson (Achilles) remains sidelined.

“Hopefully, Jonas will be back soon,” the manager added.

Chris Brunt will be available to face United after serving his one-game ban against Blackburn.

Baggies left-back Nicky Shorey insists there is no need to panic after the Blackburn loss meant Albion had suffered three successive league defeats for the first time this season.

But Shorey says there will be no knee-jerk reaction as they gear up for the second half of the campaign in 14th place with 22 points.

“Some people probably will get carried away but not us in the changing room – and the coaching staff will keep us grounded,” said Shorey.

“You can’t get too low after a defeat or too high after a win, we’ve got to stay level-headed, especially in this league, because we’ve got to get the wins and they are hard to come by.”

“A few people got carried away when we were winning but we didn’t and we’ve got to keep working hard and put in a performance on Saturday.”

League leaders Manchester United will look to extend their impressive club record unbeaten run to 18 games against the Baggies.

United have only won once away from Old Trafford in the league this season but manager Alex Ferguson is hopeful that dismal record can be improved.

The 2-1 win at Stoke has been their only win in eight matches on their travels but that could change against Albion as they look to cement top spot.