West Brom boss Steve Bruce has confirmed he plans to use a back four moving forward as he looks to produce a more attack-minded side next season.

Albion always played a 3-4-3 formation under Valerien Ismael, and whilst Bruce made a few tweaks, he has predominantly used a back three since he succeeded the current Besiktas coach.

However, he went with a more traditional 4-4-2 yesterday in the 1-0 win at Reading, and the former Newcastle chief made it clear that he feels he wants to play with a back four next season when speaking to the Express & Star.

"That’s the way I’d like to go moving forward. We played that way in mind of next season when we start afresh. Whether that’s 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1 as we call it now. It’s something I am looking at.

"If you’re going to get out of the division then you have got to win something like 22/23/24 games. And the structure of the club when I came in was obviously set up for a different manager. We have seven centre-backs and not enough in midfield and in the wide areas."

Albion are 10th in the table ahead of their final game against Barnsley next weekend.

The verdict

Bruce has had one eye on next season for a few weeks now, so it makes sense to try different formations and he clearly feels a back four is the way to go.

You can imagine most fans agree with that, as it will allow them to get another attacking player on the pitch, but it's obvious they need to bring in more players this summer to ensure it works.

Ultimately, that's what it's all about and Bruce is keen to make moves as he hopes to strengthen in the coming months.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.