Boss Chris Hughton is weighing up when to restore Albion’s dominant midfield partnership.

Dale Stephens and Beram Kayal are waiting to see whether they are reunited at Reading today for the first time since the promotion decider at Middlesbrough at the end of last season.

Former Reading pair Ollie Norwood and Steve Sidwell are also vying for central roles against their old club.

The Stephens and Kayal combination underpinned Albion’s promotion challenge throughout last season. A suspension arising from his controversial red card at Middlesbrough and minor injury ruled Stephens out of the first two games of the campaign.

Hughton picked Kayal and Sidwell for the opening two Championship matches, then switched to Stephens and recent signing Norwood for Tuesday’s 3-0 home win over Rotherham as he rotated his squad to cope with the early season flurry of fixtures.

Hughton also brought in Jamie Murphy on the left-wing for Jiri Skalak as Albion repeated their victory over Nottingham Forest.

Glenn Murray, who scored to take his tally to three goals in two games, said: “It shows we’ve got the strength in depth.

“We made a few changes and the result was still the same. We’ll see what today brings now.”

Murray is enjoying working under Hughton after returning to Albion from Bournemouth on a season-long loan.

The striker said. “He’s been great so far. He’s quite shrewd and quiet but he gets his point across. We know who the boss is.

“He leads. And he’s telling us all the right things at the moment. I’m sure he’s a nice guy - but I wouldn’t cross him.”