Craig Dawson expected to return for West Brom's clash with Bristol City

The centre-back missed Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Millwall through a sickness bug, but caretaker boss James Shan is confident he'll play at Ashton Gate.

That will be a welcome return because Ahmed Hegazi is suspended for that match following his red card against Millwall and Kyle Bartley is nursing a hamstring problem that ruled him out on Saturday.

"I expect Craig to be back in," said Shan. "He had a sickness thing, I couldn't run the risk of that being spread and passing it on at the hotel.

"We have to be very careful, keep people away, I'll speak to the medical staff but I fully expect him to be in Monday and available on Tuesday."

Shan was disappointed with the way his back line defended at The Den, and says they dropped too deep.

He hopes Dawson's return to the back line will help fix that problem.

"Craig is a key player for this club," said Shan. "He's our most experienced defender and no doubt some of the issues we faced (against Millwall), we missed Craig Dawson.

"He's outstanding with his first contacts and tries to lead the line and get it higher up the pitch."

Albion let in two sloppy goals against Millwall. Mistakes by Ahmed Hegazi and Sam Johnstone allowed Ryan Tunnicliffe to give them the lead in the first half, before the Baggies failed to react to a loose ball in the second half, ending in a Hegazi own goal.

"I was disappointed with our back four defending and thought they were too deep," added Shan. "I’ve got an understanding of why that was and we need to improve that very quickly.

"We’ve left big gaps and big holes. People have said the ball was out of play (for the second goal).

"Whether it was or wasn’t, the manner in which they got in to create that chance was very disappointing.

"Obviously the sending off then leaves you with little to work with."

Hegazi's red card capped off a nightmare afternoon for the Egyptian centre-back and means he now misses tomorrow's trip to Bristol City. The defender also booted the ball into the home crowd before trudging down the tunnel.

"What I will say is that they’re both yellow cards for me," said Shan. "The first one was a yellow card and so was the second. As soon as the action happened I knew he’s be walking off the pitch and would be sent off."