Double blow for Baggies

West Brom have been handed a double blow as they will be without key duo Abdoulaye Meite and Chris Brunt against Middlesbrough.

The injuries will come as a major setback for the Baggies as they look to get their best players on the pitch and turn around their poor start to the season, beginning with a win in the game at Middlesbrough.

However, fans contemplating backing Tony Mowbray's side with their free £25 bet will be disheartened by the news that Brunt will be out for at least three weeks and maybe more with a badly pulled hamstring.

Meite injured himself in the warm-up against Aston Villa last week and will be out for a couple of weeks.

The Midlands outfit would have seen the weekend's trip as a good opportunity to get some points on the board, with Boro having been beaten in all their three fixtures in September conceding seven and scoring just two.

However, Mowbray knows it will be that much harder to do without the services of both Meite and Brunt.

"They both had scans yesterday," Albion boss Tony Mowbray told the club's official website. "Brunt has a grade one strain of his hamstring and will be out for three to four weeks.

"We haven't yet had the scan results read for Meite but I would anticipate it being two weeks and a bit more. He went through a week's training last week after the same sort of injury."