Danny Wright

Fri 3 January 2020 13:53, UK

West Brom manager Slaven Bilic has ruled Grady Diangana out of Sunday’s FA Cup third-round clash against Charlton at The Valley.

However the Baggies boss has confirmed that Diangana, 21, will be available to play against the Addicks in the Championship next week.

West Brom are set for two matches in a row where they play away against Charlton in the next week.

Bilic is likely to rest some of his key players for the cup game at The Valley after a tiring festive period that saw his side win just one of six Championship matches.

In that period, players like Kieran Gibbs, Nathan Ferguson and Diangana have been hit with injuries.

Although Diangana was only supposed to be out for three weeks and was pencilled in to return against Leeds on New Years Day, the on-loan West Ham winger missed out.

When asked if the England Under-21 international will be fit to play against Charlton this weekend, Bilic, as quoted by the Birmingham Mail, said: “No, but definitely for the next game, the league game.

“His progress is going as expected. We thought at the beginning [when he did the injury] it’s only three weeks until the Leeds game, and he’s capable [of making it].

“It’s not that he had a setback or whatever, it’s all good, but you don’t want to rush him back too much. He’s missed a couple of ‘proper’ sessions, which you don’t have anyway in this period, apart from the day before a game.”

Firstly, West Brom need Diangana back from injury as soon as possible as in the six matches he has missed out since heading to The Hawthorns, Bilic’s side have failed to win a game.

However, most importantly, West Brom need to pray that West Ham do not recall the dynamic winger.

Along with Matheus Pereira and Kyle Bartley, Diangana has been one of the stand-out players at The Hawthorns this season and losing him could have a major impact on Albion’s promotion hopes.

In other West Brom news, Mark Lawrenson has predicted Albion’s FA Cup clash against Charlton.