Daniel Sturridge ruled out of next two West Brom games

Sturridge, who joined on loan from Liverpool in January, will now miss next weekend’s trip to Watford as well as today’s home clash with Huddersfield.

It is hoped he will be available for the home match against Leicester in a fortnight.

Pardew signed the England international on loan to score the goals to keep Albion up, and the Baggies are paying his £120,000-a-week salary.

However, the injury-prone striker limped off the pitch two minutes into his second start for the club.

He has joined long-term absentees Nacer Chadli and James Morrison on the treatment table.

“One of the problems I’ve had here is we keep losing players,” said Pardew.

“Just when we get ourselves in a bit of a groove and get a good performance we seem to lose players and it’s about having a mindset to be available each week.

“Going week to week now helps us definitely in terms of the group we’ve got.

“I hope Chadli plays a part, I hope Morrison plays a part and I certainly hope Daniel Sturridge plays a part.

"They are the things that give me that belief. Strange things happen in football with momentum. Leicester proved that only three or four years ago and I’m not talking about them winning the league.

“It’s about getting that victory and building on a victory. We’ve got to get a victory as soon as possible.”

Morrison has been out since September with an Achilles injury and Chadli has only featured for 16 minutes under Pardew.

The head coach described their absence as a ‘hefty blow’ and reckons former boss Tony Pulis might still be in the job had the club’s two most gifted playmakers stayed fit.

“We've got Chadli, Morrison and Daniel out – everybody else is available,” said Pardew.

“Daniel will probably miss the next game (Watford) after this one but hopefully be available the week after.

“With Chadli I'm not sure because it's a recurrence of an old injury, which always makes you a bit more nervous.

“We're desperate to have him back because we're running out of time so we are chasing him along.

“We are at that stage of the season where they can't have any kind of recurrence and we're hoping that when they come back, they will be OK.

“If Tony had had them available, I might not even be here. It's been disappointing for the club, but when you have two big flair players out, and the team looks like it needs a little bit of flair, it's a hefty blow.”

Pardew has been searching for a solution to his problems, and went to the club’s under-23s match at Aggborough on Monday night to cast an eye over Oliver Burke, Sam Field, and January signing Ali Gabr.

Burke had to pull out of the match at the last minute as a precaution, but he is available to play this weekend.

“Oliver has been training very well and we wanted to see that reflected in game time,” said Pardew. “And it was Ali's first game in a West Brom shirt as well.

“Those two (Burke and Field) are important in terms of game time and Ali put in a good performance.”