Contract no issue for injured Zoltan Gera, says West Brom boss

The Baggies midfielder, who is recovering from a ruptured cruciate ligament, is out of contract in the summer but the club have an option to extend his deal by another year.

And Clarke does not believe the injury will harm his chances of staying, even though he is likely to remain sidelined when the official decision date arrives in June.

"I don't think his contract will be an issue and at the moment Zoltan's recovery is the main thing," said Clarke.

"If he's with the squad during the first week of pre-season then we can start thinking about the contract.

"Both George Thorne and Zoltan need to get their heads down and focus on their rehabilitation so they can be back with the squad as soon as possible, then the contract situation will be resolved.

"Zoltan knows the process, he knows the timescales and he has little targets he will take steps towards over the coming months.

"Realistically it's Zoltan's aim to be ready to join the group in the first week of July for pre-season."

Meanwhile, Clarke hopes to have a clean bill of health for Saturday's meeting with Sunderland aside from Gera and Thorne, who are both facing lengthy spells out after surgery to repair damaged cruciate ligaments.

"We have no new injury problems whatsoever," said Clarke.

"It's good that we've had a couple of weeks where we've had longer breaks which I think has helped the squad recover.

"It's nice to have no new injuries to report but we have got a few more training sessions before the weekend so we won't get carried away.

"At the moment we have a clean bill of health other than the long-term injuries.

"George has had his surgery and as far as I know it went well and he's on the road to recovery."