West Brom in injury déjà vu as Daryl Dike a doubt for World Cup campaign
West Brom striker Daryl Dike is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines once again that could threaten his World Cup campaign.
The21-year-old was set to lead the line for the United States in Qatar in November where they are set to take on England, Wales and Iran in Group B.
But Baggies manager Steve Bruce came out after Albion’s 1-0 win over Sheffield United on Thursday to confirm that the American’s injury was as bad as they had been fearing.
“The scan results have confirmed our fears that he’s got a tear to his thigh muscle. Last time it was his hamstring. We’re devastated for him and for the whole lot of us. I don’t want to put a timescale on it, because that’d be unfair,” he said, as quoted by Birmingham Live.
“It’s substantial, it’ll be weeks, at least a couple of months. He’s got to stay mentally strong the kid, because he’s had an awful time and the way he’s worked and the way he got himself into the condition he’s in, it’s really disappointing for him and everybody.
“He’s kicked a ball. It’s so innocuous that it’s scary. He’s tried to score a goal. It might even have been just a tap-in, last minute of training session. It’s frustrating for everybody.”
Again
It is starting to feel like Dike may never get a run of games at The Hawthorns having spent the majority of his time in the Midlands injured.
He was a passenger for the second half of last season after his £7million move from Orlando City on 1 January but at least he was ruled out in time for Valerien Ismael to dip back into the transfer market and sign Andy Carroll on a short-term deal.
Bruce now faces that same conundrum albeit with a little more time to formulate a better list of targets but he would surely prefer to not have to bother with all that and just play Dike.
Whatever is going wrong with him has to be addressed properly before he returns in any capacity because he cannot expect to have a career in football if he can only manage one or two games every few months.
In other West Brom news, the boss has confirmed one of the names he and his recruitment team are considering signing in place of the American.
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