We need to get him up to speed quick – Steve Bruce on Martin Kelly's West Brom injury return

Versatile defender Kelly, 32, was Steve Bruce's sole deadline day signing last week after loan moves for midfield pair Josh Onomah and Steven Alzate broke down at the 11th hour.

Kelly, an ex-Liverpool trainee who graduated to the Reds first-team, was released by former club Crystal Palace at the end of last season having been on the periphery a Selhurst Park in recent seasons.

He only made one FA Cup appearance last term and has managed just a minute of Premier League football since January 2020. Kelly penned a two-year deal at The Hawthorns and said he is looking forward to repaying Bruce's faith. He did not feature in the matchday squad against Burnley last week.

Albion lost Semi Ajayi to an ankle injury at Wigan last week and the defender will spend a period on the sidelines, a blow that prompted the Baggies to move for free agent Kelly.

"He hasn't played a lot of football," Bruce admitted. "But with Semi and what happened to him and where we were, with his experience and know how, we need to get him up to speed quick.

"We'll see where he is in a couple of days."

The Baggies boss' most recent update on Ajayi was that ankle ligament damage will see him spend a few weeks out of the side. The Nigeria defender fortunately avoided knee damage, which was feared at the time.

Bruce said of the incident, which occurred during Wigan's opening goal at the DW Stadium: "He's got an ankle injury. I don't want to put a timescale on it. He'll certainly miss a few weeks. That's certain. We're unfortunate, what can you do? He's twisted his ankle badly. These things happen. It's him now and Dike.

"We've unfortunately lost a big player. His knee is okay. Whether it was nerve damage from the ankle, we've scanned them both. He's going to be a few weeks. It's ligament damage.

"He's badly twisted his ankle, we've got to be patient but it'll be a few weeks. He's a tough lad, because he did the injury in the incident before their goal. He played on for 20 minutes, that was a strange one."

Ajayi joined Daryl Dike in the Albion treatment room. The United States international frontman tore a thigh muscle on the eve of the first home game of the season against Watford last month.

Bruce admitted the 22-year-old faces 'a long way back' given the severity of a second bad muscle injury since his £7million move in January.

"It's been four weeks. He's on the road to recovery," Bruce said.

"It's a long way back with all the nonsense he has to go through, but we wish him the best of luck."