Albion hopeful on striker injury

Albion hope striker Ishmael Miller will be back in action within three weeks after he strained his hamstring in Saturday's thriller against Cardiff.

The Baggies had feared Miller could be side-lined for up to six weeks after he pulled up just 13 minutes into the 3-3 draw against the Blue birds.

But manager Tony Mowbray was more optimistic today after initial tests suggested the injury is not as serious as first feared.

Mowbray said: "We couldn't get it scanned yesterday but the scan will be done today.

"But if the physio's testing turns out to be right then we would hope it will only be two to three weeks. It doesn't look like a serious one.

"Hamstring injuries are graded one, two and three and we are hoping that Ishmael only has a one strain."

Miller's absence is unlikely to weaken the Albion side immediately with the in-form Roman Bednar waiting in the wings for an extended run in the team alongside leading scorer Kevin Phillips.

But the loss of Miller for an extended period would leave Craig Beattie as the only out-and-out striker in the squad to provide support for Bednar and Miller.

Bednar took his tally for the Baggies to 10 goals in 14 appearances with the side's opening goal in Saturday's 3-3 draw after replacing Miller.

And Mowbray was full of praise for the Czech international as he further enhanced his status as a favourite with Albion fans.

"Roman's been the same since he started playing for us," said Mowbray.

"He's almost on a goal a game, he's playing exceptionally well and let's hope he can continue in that vein.

"He started on the bench because he had a very tough 120 minutes in midweek and Ishmael didn't."

Mowbray is confident that Beattie will be available for Saturday's FA Cup fourth-round trip to Peterborough and the Scottish international could even start alongside Bednar if the manager continues with his policy of resting strike ace Phillips in non-Championship fixtures.