West Bromwich Albion head coach Slaven Bilic is likely to stick with Charlie Austin up front against Hull City in the Championship tomorrow, according to Steve Madeley of The Athletic.

Austin joined West Brom from Southampton on transfer deadline day back in August, but the striker has struggled to make an impact since his arrival at The Hawthorns - scoring one goal in eleven league appearances for the Baggies.

The 30-year-old is without a goal in his last four matches and some West Brom fans have questioned whether Bilic will decided to drop the forward from his starting line-up for the clash with Hull tomorrow.

This would mean him starting either Hal Robson-Kanu - who has scored three goals in his last four appearances for the Baggies from the bench - or Kenneth Zahore.

However, West Brom expert Madeley revealed in his latest The Athletic Q&A (08/11) that he is expecting Bilic to name an unchanged starting line-up for the clash at the KCOM Stadium.

"I suspect it will be unchanged. The only debate, I guess, would be over who plays up front but Bilic seems to believe that Austin is his best bet from the start, which is probably fair enough even though he hasn't found anything like his best form yet.

"I think Austin has been well below his best, and we don't know whether he will ever find it, but I still think he's done better than the other two from the start.

"I can understand Bilic wanting to stick with Austin for as long as possible, as he's the one with some goalscoring pedigree so Bilic will want to give him every chance to find some form."

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The Verdict

I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Bilic start Austin up front tomorrow. Even though he hasn't made the sort of impact that many West Brom fans were hoping for when he arrived at the club in the summer, he's still a fantastic striker.

He's got plenty of experience and his goal record in the Championship for QPR and Burnley is exceptional. He's more than capable of making an impact for West Brom this season and I think it's only a matter of time before he starts scoring again.

If he can just get one goal, I fancy him to go on a bit of a run, which is maybe why Bilic wants to leave him in the side for as long as possible.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.