West Brom are set for a capacity crowd for the weekend visit of Nationwide Division One leaders Fulham to the Hawthorns.

An attendance of 23,000 is anticipated that would surpass the 21,749 who witnessed the Black Country derby game against Wolves in October.

And the Baggies ticket officer Davina De Bear admitted the club has been inundated with requests for match tickets.

She said: "People have been pouring through the door.

"There is a huge amount of interest in this match and we're certainly looking at our biggest crowd of the season."

Some say Fulham are already in the Premiership such has been their phenomenal form this season.

The French revolution that has taken place down the Cottage has come up trumps with the Londoners nine points clear of their nearest rivals at the top.

The match is already being billed as the clash of the First Division's red-hot strikers with Lee Hughes looking to out-gun Fulham's deadly assassin Louis Saha.

The 22-year-old is the country's leading scorer and his recent double against Derby helped Fulham into the Worthington Cup quarter-finals.

Despite their sizzling form, however, Fulham are not unbeatable as Preston proved earlier in the season.

Last meeting at the Hawthorns: August 30, 1999 - 0-0 Albion starting line-up: Miller, Gabbidon, van Blerk, Flynn, Burgess, Raven, Maresca, Sneekes, De Freitas, Hughes, Carbon. Attendance: 17,120.

Fulham lowdown: First Division standing - 1st; Matches played: 20 (15 wins, 4 draws, 1 defeat). Goals for: 47; Goals against: 14. Last five League games: Preston (a) D 1-1; Grimsby (h) W 2-1; Sheff Utd (a) D 1-1; Portsmouth (h) W 3-1; Wimbledon (a) W 3-0.