West Brom go back to the top of the Championship with win at Stoke

Stoke City 0 West Brom 2

Matt Phillips and substitute Hal Robson-Kanu fired West Brom back to the top of the Championship as struggling Stoke remain rooted to the bottom after a disappointing 2-0 defeat.

Midfielder Phillips’s sixth goal of the season gave the Baggies a sixth-minute lead and Robson-Kanu’s second-half penalty ensured they comfortably avoided an upset at the bet365 Stadium and leap-frogged Preston at the summit.

Scotland international Phillips was never going to miss from close-range for his second goal in as many games as Slaven Bilic’s promotion-hungry side stretched their unbeaten run to five games.

Several names in the hat to replace Niko Kovac as Bayern Munich manager

---

All-island football group to broaden league formats under consideration

---

Jorginho and Kovacic give Chelsea fans something to chant about

---

And Robson-Kanu's third goal in four matches inflicted an 11th defeat in 15 games on Stoke who, only three days ago, sacked manager Nathan Jones after a miserable start to the season. They are now six points adrift of safety.