Claudio Yacob return a 'charm' for West Brom

The Argentina international is hoping to return for Saturday's Premier League derby against Villa at the Hawthorns after six weeks out with a hamstring injury.

And McAuley believes the return of midfielder Yacob – either on Saturday or for the January 30 trip to Everton – will be a major boost to Steve Clarke's team.

The Baggies have won eight of their 14 games with the summer signing in the team but just three of their 14 games without the 25-year-old.

And McAuley said: "He was flying for us at the start of the season. He's a different type of player to what we have got. We probably do miss him, as we do other big players who are important for us.

"But he's getting back fit now and, hopefully, he will be pushing for a place in the side. He's like a lucky charm and we will have to wrap him in cotton wool to keep him on the pitch."

West Brom have lost four of their last five matches and are without a win since their Premier League victory at Queens Park Rangers on Boxing Day.

But McAuley does not believe there are major issues for Clarke to address.

The centre-back said: "It's about the little things. You make your own luck so we just need to keep working hard and hopefully it turns around for us again."

West Brom rate Yacob '50-50' for Saturday's clash with Villa after he returned to training this week, while striker Shane Long is also touch and go for the derby because of a dead leg that ruled him out of Tuesday's FA Cup defeat to QPR.

But they are confident that Marc-Antoine Fortune and Chris Brunt will recover from a hamstring problem and the flu respectively after missing the third-round replay.

Steven Reid (shin) and Peter Odemwingie (calf) returned as substitutes against Rangers but Zoltan Gera (knee) has been ruled out for the season.