Tony Pulis's West Bromwich Albion survival mission begins on Saturday when they host fellow strugglers Hull City in the Premier League.

The Welshman has never been relegated in his managerial career and will be expected to maintain that record now that he has taken over at The Hawthorns.

His tenure got off to the perfect start with a 7-0 FA Cup third-round thumping of non-league Gateshead Town in which Saido Berahino scored four times.

Much was made about the striker's muted celebrations amid transfer links to both Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool, but the England Under-21 international has insisted that the two are not connected.

It is still believed, however, that a sum of £15m-20m would be enough to persuade the Baggies to part with their 13-goal top scorer this January as they look to fund a war chest for Pulis to save them from the drop.

Albion enter this weekend's match 17th in the table and afloat by only one point, while Hull are only slightly better off in 15th courtesy of two wins from their last three Premier League matches.

The Tigers could not take this good form into their 2013-14 FA Cup final rematch with Arsenal last weekend, as the Gunners began the defence of the trophy which they won at Hull's expense last May with a 2-0 win.

Steve Bruce was forced into heavy rotation at the Emirates Stadium due to a series of injuries and remains without Mohamed Diame, Robert Snodgrass, Liam Rosenior, Andrew Robertson and Gaston Ramirez for the trip to the Midlands.

He will be hopeful, though, that both Nikica Jelavic and James Chester can shake off knocks picked up in the 2-0 win over Everton to start, while Michael Dawson is back after a two-month layoff to bolster the defence.

Many of those who featured in the New Year's Day victory over the Toffees should be restored after their cup rest, with Jake Livermore, Abel Hernandez and Ahmed Elomohamady among those in line for recalls.

Pulls too is likely to make changes for West Brom's return to league action, and it is the back five which could see the most alterations, with Ben Foster, Andre Wisdom and Joleon Lescott likely to be restored.

Knocks to Craig Gardner and Graham Dorrans may disrupt Pulis's plans in midfield, but Stephane Sessegnon and Silvestre Varela should benefit from the 56-year-old's preference to employ pacey widemen.

Despite the doubts over his future, Berahino will spearhead the Albion attack. Youssouf Mulumbu and Jason Davidson are away on international duty and long-term absentee Jonas Olsson remains unavailable.

Dorrans missed an early penalty as these two sides played out a 0-0 draw at the KC Stadium in December.

West Brom:

Form in Premier League: DWLLLD
Form in all competitions: WLLLDW

Possible starting lineup: Foster; Wisdom, McAuley, Lescott, Pocognoli; Varela, Yacob, Morrison, Brunt; Sessegnon, Berahino

Hull:

Form in Premier League: DLLWLW
Form in all competitions: LLWLWL

Possible starting lineup: McGregor; Chester, Davies, Dawson; Elmohamady, Livermore, Huddlestone, Quinn, Brady; Jelavic, Hernandez

Sports Mole says: 2-0