West Brom man Matt Clarke edging closer to a return
West Brom man Matt Clarke could make his return to the first team before the next international break, according to Valerien Ismael.
The Baggies boss speaking to the Birmingham Mail revealed that the on-loan centre-back is edging closer to his return, and he could be back before the October international break.
The 24-year-old has only played three league games for West Brom since he joined the club in the last summer transfer window, but he could be back soon.
He said: “Yes, that is possible [for him to play before the international break]. He looks good, he will have a scan today, and we will go from there.
“But every sign in training, the sports science, he has reacted very well. It gives us a big hope that he could come back earlier than expected.
“But we need to wait for the scan and go from there.”
Good news for the Baggies.
Clarke has plenty of EFL experience and could prove to be a very good addition to this West Brom side.
However, injury has robbed him of that opportunity to make a big impact at the Hawthorns so far, which is a shame.
Ismael is currently without Dara O’Shea, so the quicker Clarke returns, the better.
The former Portsmouth centre-back looks like he could be the ideal player for Ismael should he overcome this injury and break his way into the first team.
The Frenchman sounds positive here, so we are intrigued to see the results from the scan, and we hope that is good news for Clarke and the Baggies.
It has been a harsh start to life at the Hawthorns for the centre-back, but hopefully, this hamstring issue clears up soon, and we get to see Clarke in action.
In other West Brom news, Jeff Stelling has made his prediction on the Preston North End game.