Last Updated: Fri, 16 Nov 2012 11:02
West Brom are hoping Gareth McAuley shakes off a hamstring injury in time for Saturday's visit of Chelsea to the Hawthorns.
The influential central defender picked up the problem during Northern Ireland's 1-1 World Cup qualifier draw against Azerbaijan this week.
And, while boss Steve Clarke is hoping it is not serious enough to rule him out of the game this weekend, he has Gabriel Tamas on stand-by to deputise.
Midfielder Youssouf Mulumbu should be fit after a hamstring injury led to him withdrawing from midweek action with Congo, while goalkeeper Boaz Myhill will again deputise for Ben Foster, who is recovering from groin surgery.
Clarke is also unable to call on loan Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku, who is ineligible to face his parent club.
Meanwhile, Clarke is relishing the prospect of facing the club where he spent 11 years as a player and eight years as a coach as he feels it will show him how far his players have come under his leadership.
He told the club's website: "It's not dissimilar to when Manchester City came a few weeks ago and we wanted to challenge ourselves against them.
"We lost the game but we came out of the game with a higher self-esteem, if you like, because we knew we'd given them a really tough game.
"We'll aim to do that again against Chelsea on Saturday - but this time we're looking for a positive result.
"We're going to go out there on Saturday and work as hard as we can to make it a really difficult afternoon for Chelsea."
Have you an opinion on this story? Put your money where your mouth is and claim a free £25 bet.
