West Brom's Kyle Bartley out for up to five weeks
Albion will be without Kyle Bartley for up to five weeks following a setback in his return from injury.
The defender, who starred in three of the four games under Carlos Corberan prior to the international break, suffered an injury before the return to Championship action and has been in the sidelines ever since. He was initially out with a minor thigh problem, with four weeks cited, but the defender was ahead of schedule and trained last week, following a brief illness. However, he suffered pain during training and after a scan he has been ruled out for the next three to five weeks.
Explaining the situation, Corberan said: “There is no positive news and we are not going to have him for the next three weeks.
“The injury has had a negative impact on his progress. He had a scan at the beginning that said he wasn’t ready to compete in the next few weeks, but his feeling wasn’t that one.
“He was feeling fine to be ready. Then with the scan we had the other day, we confirmed he needs more time with the medical staff to manage the injury, it has not progressed as we expected. So we are not going to have him for the next three to five weeks.”
Bartley netted in Albion’s wins over QPR and Stoke prior to the international break - but suffered the injury during the World Cup break.
Follow centre-back Semi Ajayi returned to the squad earlier this month but has remained on the sidelines with full-back Erik Pieters partnering captain Dara O’Shea at the heart of defence.
