Clarke ruled out for up to six weeks
MATT Clarke will be sidelined for as long as six weeks after he hobbled off with a hamstring injury in West Brom’s 2-1 win over Blackburn Rovers at the weekend.
The defender, who Albion have borrowed from Brighton for the season, pulled up just before half-time at Ewood Park and forced Valerien Ismael to make an early change with Semi Ajayi entering the fray.
The absence of Clarke, who has performed well on the left side of Ismael’s back three so far, will apply pressure on Ismael’s already skinny squad and will require another right-footed figure in the back-line to fill an unnatural position.
“We received yesterday the information that he will miss a lot of games – five to six weeks,” said Ismael.
“We need to deal with the situation. It’s bad news for us, but it is what it is.
“You can’t influence injuries or Covid.
“They’re two situations we have to deal with.
“Now we have the first case of injury, so we need to make sure he recovers well and comes back stronger.
“It’s a good thing that the season is very long in the Championship, so we’ll see him soon.”
On the subject of Covid,
Albion have been affected on that front too.
While Ismael wasn’t able to identify the players because of confidentiality, he did confirm that two first-team players had tested positive while on their day off and have been forced into self-isolation.
It presents another selection issue, but Ismael accepts that in this era it’s a risk that everyone takes.
“Covid is always a worry at the minute.
“You cannot control this. You can only get the jab and make sure you do the right thing, but we knew from the beginning we had to deal with injuries and Covid.”