View: Caleb Taylor could make Championship debut v Millwall amid West Brom injury woes
Caleb Taylor could be set to make his maiden Championship appearance on Saturday when West Brom host Millwall at The Hawthorns.
The West Midlands club returns to league duties this weekend following the international break which has proved rather costly for Valerien Ismael.
Dara O’Shea was one Albion player selected for his nation as the Republic of Ireland named him in their squad for a hat-trick of World Cup qualifiers.
However, disaster struck in the first of those games as the 22-year-old was substituted in the first half against Portugal after suffering an ankle injury.
The club are still awaiting to find out the full extent of the issue but it looks certain that he will be absent on Saturday, and possibly for some time to come.
Another centre-back, Matt Clarke, is also set to miss the duration of September.
The Brighton loanee, 24, suffered a hamstring injury in the 2-1 win over Blackburn Rovers on August 21 and left the field of play in the 41st minute.
He then missed the next two fixtures with Arsenal and Peterborough United.
Ismael and Albion have reacted to this double blow by moving for free agent Kean Bryan.
However, the ex-Sheffield United defender has not played a competitive game of football since May and with his injury history, is surely unlikely to come straight into the starting XI.
That may mean a two-way fight for the third centre-back slot alongside Kyle Bartley and Semi Ajayi.
Cedric Kipre [24] is the most senior option available and he started the first game of the season against Bournemouth.
However, he failed to impress on the south-coast and was subsequently benched for the next three games before reappearing in a much-changed team that lost 6-0 to Arsenal in the League Cup.
He began that thrashing to the Gunners in a three-man defence with 19-year-old Taylor, who was making his Albion debut.
Taylor then replaced Kipre in the squad that travelled to Cambridgeshire three days later and beat Peterborough 1-0.
Is that a hint Taylor is now above Kipre in the pecking order?
It may be a tough task to throw Taylor in at the deep end against Millwall, but the fans will be right behind the teenager in B12, and Ismael has shown that he is not afraid to shirk big decisions.
In other West Brom news, Joseph Masi shares claim on Matheus Pereira payment plan between Al Hilal and Albion.
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