Good afternoon! I'm Shane and I'll be bringing you live coverage of West Bromwich Albion's must-win Premier League clash at home to West Midlands rivals Aston Villa.

It's only 12 days until the fat man dressed in red (not Wayne Rooney) comes abseiling down our chimneys but let's see if West Brom can get an early Christmas present in the form of three points here because, well, they need them and so does manager Alan Irvine.

The Baggies come into this derby 16th in the Premier League table, one point clear of the relegation zone after winning just one of their last nine outings. It's not been good enough, has it? Irvine's future at the club is in serious doubt as Albion fans appear to have turned on the Scot. Like an advent calendar, his days might be numbered at The Hawthorns, which increases the urgency to start winning games.

Fortunately for Irvine, he appears to have the support of his players, with captain Chris Brunt and Craig Gardner heralding him recently after goalkeeper Ben Foster did the same during the week. I can remember Newcastle players hailing under-fire Alan Pardew at the height of their early-season woes, when it seemed like Pardew was nailed-on to be sacked. They're seventh in the table now and beat Chelsea last week. If Irvine is backed by the players then the board can't afford to make any knee-jerk decisions over his future - but a win here is massive!

And, you know what, they'll fancy their chances. Villa have won their last two but they've been far from world beaters. Prior to those recent wins against Crystal Palace and Leicester, Paul Lambert's side hadn't won a game since beating Liverpool at Anfield way back in September, and had only scored three goals in that nine-game barren run. They're boosted by getting back to winning ways, sure, but let's not pretend that West Brom are facing Chelsea or Manchester City here.

Right let's get into a bit of team news, shall we? I'll have this very soon, but first why not check out what the lads down at Sports Mole HQ have had to say on this one? Ah sure go on and I'll see you in a few.

WEST BROM XI: Foster, Wisdom, Lescott, McAuley, Pocognoli, Gardner, Dorrans, Morrison, Varela, Sessegnon, Ideye

ASTON VILLA XI: Guzan, Hutton, Okore, Clark, Cissokho, Sanchez, Richardson, Cleverley, N'Zogbia, Agbonlahor, Benteke

WEST BROM SUBS: Myhill, Baird, Dawson, Gamboa, Mulumbu, Blanco, Berahino

ASTON VILLA SUBS: Given, Weimann, Delph, Vlaar, Lowton, Grealish, Herd

Okay we'll start with West Brom and the big news is that leading goalscorer Saido Berahino drops to the bench as record signing Brown Ideye spearheads their attack today. Ideye is one of two changes from last week's stalemate at Hull City, with Silvestre Varela also replacing Youssouf Mulumbu.

The Nigerian will be the focal point this afternoon, with Stephane Sessegnon, Varela, James Morrison, Graham Dorrans and Craig Gardner in a five-man midfield. Joleon Lescott, who has five career goals against Villa, captains the side from the heart of defence beside Gareth McAuley, with Sebastian Pocognoli and Andre Wisdom in the full-back slots. Finally, Ben Foster starts between the sticks and that's your lot from West Brom! Surprised by Berahino's omission but we'll get to that a little later.

Right on to Villa now and Paul Lambert makes just the one change to his side from the 1-0 victory over Leicester City, with Ashley Westwood dropping out for Kieran Richardson.

Christian Benteke spearheads the attack alongside Gabriel Agbonlahor, with Richardson, Carlos Sanchez, Tom Cleverley, Charles N'Zogbia supporting from midfield. Alan Hutton, the match-winner last weekend, starts at right-back in a defence also comprising of Okore, Ciaran Clark and Aly Cissokho. Brad Guzan starts in net of course. Ron Vlaar is back, but he's only on the bench.

DANGER MAN! It has to be Saido Berahino, doesn't it - but what do we make of the West Brom striker? Let's have a look at why he might be on the bench today because, well, it's such a big call by Irvine. It's a gamble and one that he can't afford to get wrong, given how much heat is on him already. Will fortune favour the brave?

Berahino blazed trails early on with eight goals in his first 10 games of the season, but he's been a little quiet as of late and has not found the net in any of his last seven outings! He actually hit the bar late on against Arsenal two weeks ago so he has been a touch unlucky not to add to his seven Premier League goals, and he's still far and away the Baggies' biggest goal threat, which makes his omission all the more strange. But the bloke replacing him must also be enjoying a goal-laden season, right? Actually, no...

Ideye, the Baggies' £10m record signing, has scored just once for the club since his summer move and it was against Hull City in a second-round Capital One Cup game! I understand that there's a lot of games this month, and rotation will be key to combating the festive period, but this is a game that the hosts will fancy their chances in. Anyways, it's either going to be a massive error or a master stroke - I hope for Irvine's sake it's the latter.

Who can Villa look to for a bit of inspiration? Easy: Christian Benteke. The big Belgian is a big nuisance and there's been signs that he's been getting back to his best. He was the match-winner in the 1-0 win over Crystal Palace in the first of their successive defeats, while he tormented Leicester's back four in Sunday's home victory over the Foxes. Villa need him firing on all cylinders in the second half of the season. He's huge for them and I'm not envious of West Brom's back four this afternoon. I am actually; I'd spend 90 minutes chasing Benteke if I got their wages.

DID YOU KNOW? There has never been more than a one-goal winning margin between these sides in each of their 16 Premier League meetings? That's bizarre, but true nonetheless. History suggests that this one could be quite close, my friends.

PREDICTION: Right, kickoff isn't far away now so let's wet our whistles with a prediction, shall we? Why not. I see Villa winning this to be honest. I don't think Irvine is experienced enough as a manager to get West Brom out of this rut, and I think their slump will continue until the Scot is replaced. I also worry that this will be his last game in charge if it doesn't prove a successful West Midlands derby for the hosts. 2-1 Villa. There we go.

Less than ten minutes until kick-off here at The Hawthorns, the stands are filling up, the atmosphere is cranking up a notch. #COYB — West Bromwich Albion (@WBAFCofficial) December 13, 2014

Don't believe everything you read, folks. That feel-good tune Silent Night was playing from the speakers a few minutes ago. There will be a frenetic atmosphere after kickoff though I'm sure. Speaking of which, we're five minutes away!

Right, the players are out on the field now, doing the pre-match handshakes and all that good stuff. Paul Lambert is speaking to his fellow Scotsman Alan Irvine before kickoff.

KICKOFF: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand we're off at The Hawthorns, folks. West Brom get us underway and Gardner lobs it out for a throw-in straight away. There's no injury it just wasn't a great ball.

There's a slow enough start to this one. Neither team on top as of yet, but Silvestre Varela does really well there, knocking the ball past Hutton and fizzing a decent ball into the box but Ciaran Clark heads away.

Aly Cissokho is down in the Villa box receiving treatment now. It's unclear for what but I think he might've caught a flailing arm to the face. He's been good this season, the left-back.

Incidentally, Lambert is going for a third straight win for the first time in his Aston Villa reign, which tells its own story really. But they've got a good chance at achieving that here this afternoon.

SHOT! We've got our first shot and it's West Brom left-back Sebastian Pocognoli, who gets forward really well, skips past Okore a bit too easily and fires an angled shot at Brad Guzan, but it's beaten away. Promising.

We haven't seen a whole lot from either striker today, with Christian Benteke and Brown Ideye yet to threaten for their respective team this afternoon.

Brilliant from Benteke. The Belgian produces a beautiful flick to release the jet-heeled Agbonlahor, but Wisdom is just as quick and the right-back recovers and concedes a corner, but N'Zogbia's corner is cleared by Gareth McAuley.

There's a bit of a tempo to this one now, and both fans are playing their role in that. Fair play to them.

Good play from Ciaran Clark there, as the Republic of Ireland defender comes across to clear the danger after Craig Gardner exchanges a neat one-two with Stephane Sessegnon.

BOOKING: First yellow card of the game now and it goes to McAuley, who is penalised for a bad foul on Abgonlahor. Good decision from Mike Dean, something which I haven't often said.

SHOT! Good play from West Brom again but it didn't have the shot to match the build-up, as Graham Dorrans flashes a left-footed shot well wide of Brad Guzan's goal. Well side.

RED CARD: Villa are down to 10 men as Kieran Richardson is issued with a straight red card for a lunge on Stephane Sessegnon. It was the right decision by Dean, who had little choice. Richardson over-ran the ball and his left foot was ridiculously high off the ground, and Sessegnon is still down.

I'm happy to report Sessegnon is back up and playing. Really big ask for Villa though, but the pressure is on West Brom now.

Oddly, that red card is after taking the sting out of this one a bit. It's all gone a bit flat. The game was better and the crowd were far more vocal when it was 11 vs. 11. Can we get Richardson back on?

Right, we've reached the half-hour mark and we're still waiting for a goal - we're still waiting for a goalscoring chance really! It hasn't been a brilliant game unfortunately.

Brilliant ball and brilliant defending from Okore. Wisdom swings in a lovely cross, but Okore gets nudges Ideye out of the way slightly and heads the ball away. Good work from the centre-back.

PENALTY APPEAL: Carlos Sanchez gets away with one here beause this is a penalty. Sessegnon's cross hits the hand of Sanchez and it's blocked what looked a very dangerous cross. Unlucky West Brom then.

It's a really good spell from West Brom but they've struggled in the final third. Ciaran Clark and Okore have done really well back there for Aston Villa, sweeping up everything that comes their way.

First sign of life from Benteke so far, but the big striker is stood up well by Lescott. Even before going down to 10 men Benteke wasn't really in the game.

SHOT! Craig Gardner is yet to score for West Brom, and this is why. The ex-Villa midfielder lines up a shot from 25 yards against his former club, but his left-footed effort is dragged harmlessly wide.

CHANCE! We've had our first real chance and no surprise it's Sessegnon, who has been brilliant overall, but he should've slotted this. Pocognoli makes a mug of Alan Hutton on the left hand side, before pulling back for Sessegnon, whose side-footed shot from close range is comfortably saved by Guzan.

BOOKING: Tom Cleverley goes into the book now for a cynical foul on Varela. The Porto loanee easily skipped past him and looked to launch a counter-attack, but Cleverley took one for the team and brought him down.

Good end to this half by West Brom but they're not going to score. There was two minutes added on and we've had one of them already so we should be going into the break goalless.

So, 0-0 at the break, but it should be at least 1-0 to West Brom. They've made all the running since earning a numerical advantage but they can't find that elusive goal.

Sessegnon, who has been brilliant throughout, missed the best and only chance of the first half by side-footing straight at Brad Guzan from close range following good work from left-back Sebastian Pocognoli.

Anyways, meet me back here in a few minutes to see if West Brom can make the most of their massive advantage since Richardson was sent off. I've my doubts to be honest.

RESTART AND SUBSTITUTION: Right, we're back underway at the Hawthorns and there's one sub to tell you about, as 10-man Villa replace Charles N'Zogbia with Fabian Delph, who makes his first appearance in two months following a shoulder injury.

Anybody surprised that Berahino hasn't been introduced yet? I am. Ideye had 45 minutes to make Irvine look good for starting him, but he didn't do much, if anything, to vindicate his manager. It's a matter of time before we see Berahino, unfortunately for Ideye.

This is poor from Agbonlahor. West Brom's defence pushed right up to the halfway line virtually, and Agbonlahor finds himself in possession, with Benteke on the shoulder of Lescott, but his over-the-top pass for Benteke to run on to is so badly over-hit and Ben Foster comes out to clear the danger. That could've been a big chance for Villa.

I can't say what Villa fans are singing, because this is a family commentary, but it's a three-word chant and ends with "the Albion" so use your imagination. They don't have much to sing about so far the Villa fans, so this song is understandable.

Pocognoli has got forward really, really well from left-back this afternoon, but he has fizzed a shocking right-footed cross into the box there, which went over everybody.

CHANCE! Oh no this is big, big chance for Ideye, who looks poised to head home Sessegnon's inch-perfect cross, but for some reason the striker lifts his foot and tries to poke home when it looked a perfect height for his head. Bizarre decision from a player who might not be on the field much longer because Berahino is warming up.

It's all West Brom here, my friends. It's a case of when and not 'if' anymore but they're struggling to get the breakthrough. Dorrans skips past Okore just then, but his cut-back to Ideye is really poor and Clark thrashes away.

BOOKING: Sebastian Pocognoli goes into the book for one of the worst dives you'll see this season. It's a shocker and deserved a yellow card.

CHANCE! It pains me to say it, because I feel his pain, but it's Ideye who misses West Brom's best chance of the game. The Nigerian does well to find space and connect with Varela's cross, but he's leaning backwards and his left-footed volley from six yards out flies over the bar, and probably out of the stadium.

Saido Berahino is coming on now I think. He's receiving a last word of instruction from Irvine and it looks like it's Dorrans that will be coming off.

SUBSTITUTION: Yep, Berahino is roared on the field as he replaces Dorrans to partner the misfiring Ideye up front. It's a big last 20 minutes for Albion here folks.

We have lift off at The Hawthorns, as Gardner fires West Brom into a deserved lead. Berahino, who came on two minutes ago, swings in a fine cross that Guzan completely missed, and Gardner eventually taps home after a bit of a scramble. 1-0!

Villa have to go for it now and it looks like Lambert is readying Ron Vlaar and Andreas Weimann. Not sure what the logic behind Vlaar is, because he's a centre-half obviously, but Weimann has a goal or two in him.

BOOKING: Silvestre Varela goes into the book now for a challenge on Cleverley. Deserved. He's had a good game Mike Dean in fairness.

CLOSE! This is so, so, so close from being a dramatic equaliser, and Benteke flicks on Clark's knock-down header and it drops whiskers wide of Ben Foster's post. That's a warning sign for Albion if ever there was one.

Around nine minutes now and Villa need to find a route back into this. How? I don't know, because it looks a big ask, but you wonder if they'll get another chance. It would be very West Brom to lose a lead against 10 men so we'll see.

Five minutes to go now and there's been very little to note since our last update, with both sides just cancelling each other out. West Brom on top, but I think they're going to sit back now and see if they can hold this out. It's a massive last five minutes in Irvine's spell here.

90 seconds of normal time left and West Brom should be 2-0 up, but Berahino held on to the ball far too longer at the expense of playing in Ideye, who was free and just begging to be played in. Poor decision.

FOUR MINUTES ADDED ON: There may be one last chance for Villa here folks, but they look dead on their feet out there.

Really good defending by Lescott, who uses his power to shield possession from Wiemann and allow Hutton's through ball to trickle out of play and edge West Brom closer to victory.

CHANCE! This was Villa's last chance as Benteke side-foots beyond Foster's far post from outside the box. He should've put his foot through it. Poor Alan Irvine's hair is getting grayer by the second.

That's all she wrote here, my friends. West Brom hang on to earn a 1-0 win and move away from the relegation zone for today at least. Stay tuned for player ratings and analysis of this one in the next hour or so. Thanks for joining our live text commentary and make sure you enjoy your weekend! Go easy on the egg nog.