Confirmed: West Brom defender ruled out for four-to-six weeks with injury blow
West Brom defender Conor Townsend has been ruled out for four to six weeks after picking up an injury in the win against Sheffield United.
Slaven Bilic confirmed the news in his press conference on Friday, claiming the Baggies are waiting on Kieran Gibbs’ fitness.
With this worrying update, there could be a big defensive reshuffle for the Premier League clash against Crystal Palace on Sunday.
Steve Madeley of the Athletic shared the news on his personal Twitter account on Friday afternoon, and there were fears Townsend could have been out for longer.
“Slaven Bilic press conference ahead of Palace just began with some bad news on Conor Townsend,” he wrote. “He will be out for 4-6 weeks but Bilic admits that they had feared it might be worse.”
Given the severity of the knee issue that forced Townsend off against the Blades, it is vital that he takes this time to rest and recover.
Should he have been risked any further in that game or even against Palace, he could have been out for months rather than weeks.
There will be big question marks surrounding Gibbs.
The defender hasn’t featured for the Baggies since his sending off in the heavy defeat against Everton back in September at Goodison Park.
Townsend has made the spot his own, and that was Gibbs’ only chance of returning in the near future and he must take it with both hands.
In his 140 minutes of action this season, the 31-year-old has lost 50% of his duels and has lost possession 19 times already according to WyScout – something he could be punished for against the likes of Wilfried Zaha.
This is a real test, and Gibbs must stand up and be counted.
In other West Brom news, Sky Sports pundit predicts Baggies clash v Crystal Palace
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