West Brom: Boss confirms Kyle Bartley timeline amid concern on centre-backs

Regular vice-captain Bartley, 33, missed successive goalless draws against Blackburn and the Bluebirds on Saturday with a meniscus concern in his knee, which the club have been monitoring for some time.

After talks with a knee specialist over the last 48 hours a timeframe of at least a month has been confirmed by boss Carlos Corberan.

Bartley's replacement McNair lasted for just four minutes of his second Albion appearance having pulled up early clutching his hamstring against the visitors from south Wales.

Things went from bad to worse in that department as the hosts' other starting centre-back Semi Ajayi limped off with what Corberan has described as a problem with the knee from a seemingly innocuous second-half incident.

Corberan said: "It looks like a hamstring injury on Paddy and looks like a knee problem on Semi and that's when you add to the Bartley knee injury it is a more challenging moment for the defensive line.

"The only one I can offer is that Bartley will be four to six weeks out of the team, that is all I can confirm so far."

The Spaniard was at least able to turn to another loan centre-back Mason Holgate, the deadline day signing from Everton, to play the first minutes of a second spell at The Hawthorns.

Holgate himself had only just returned from quad discomfort while on duty with Jamaica.

Torbjorn Heggem, the summer recruit who has played at left-back for the entirety of the season so far, shuffled into the middle as McNair departed and was comfortable as the Baggies registered another clean sheet but could not break down their visitors to The Hawthorns once again.

"That is what happens in football," Corberan said of Holgate. "Sometimes you are in and then comes the opportunity to play and you have to compete."