Are West Brom preparing for the Championship well by targeting Hutton and Cunningham?

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West Brom will be relegated from the Premier League and want Aston Villa’s Alan Hutton and Preston North End’s Greg Cunningham.

That stunning 1-0 win at Old Trafford on Sunday provided a brief distraction from the brutal reality facing West Brom.

Barring an escape act of unbelievable proportions, The Baggies will start next season as a Championship side and are set to bid farewell to a number of their more experienced and proven performers, including full-backs Craig Dawson and Kieran Gibbs.

But the early signs are that West Brom have already started identifying replacements for their departed key men ahead of what is likely to be a testing summer transfer window.

The Mirror (16^th April, page 61) reports that Albion are keen to sign 33-year-old Scot Alan Hutton from Midland rivals Aston Villa with his contract due to expire at the end of this season.

This emerged a few days before HITC sources told us that West Brom are also keen to strike a bargain deal for Preston North End left-back Greg Cunningham, who has just one year remaining on his contract at Deepdale.

And while Hutton and Cunningham are hardly the inspiring or exciting of additions, this suggests that West Brom are preparing for life in the second tier in the right way by attempting to sign players who have proven themselves as consistent and reliable Championship players.

The former Tottenham and Manchester City men have been quite impressive this season albeit flying some way under the radar and would represent solid additions to a West Brom side that is likely to be picked apart this summer.