West Brom star ruled out until April in major new blow for Tony Mowbray
Tony Mowbray has suffered a worrying blow in West Brom’s bid for promotion to the Premier League.
The Baggies currently occupy the final playoff place after a run of four unbeaten Championship matches and will be hoping to finish the season strongly.
However, their push for a place in the Premier League may be hampered after a new development emerged.
Darnell Furlong out until April for West Brom
Darnell Furlong was sent off in the 1-0 win over QPR on Saturday (8 March) and will now be out of action until April.
The club have now confirmed that the appeal against his dismissal and subsequent three-match suspension has been unsuccessful.
The 29-year-old will return from his suspension for the clash with Sunderland on 5 April in a huge blow for Mowbray.
Mowbray has problem at right-back with Furlong absence
The absence of the Englishman provides a huge problem for Mowbray as he is set to miss crucial matches with Burnley, Hull City and Norwich.
The Albion boss had been confident of a successful appeal due to the harsh nature of the decision but it has been rejected.
| Stats | Furlong (Championship) |
| Starts | 35 |
| Minutes played | 3105 |
| Goals | 1 |
| Assists | 2 |
Furlong is a key man for The Hawthorns outfit and has featured in 35 of Albion’s 36 Championship matches so far this season, playing a total of 3105 minutes.
The 61-year-old will have to rely on Mason Holgate, who is naturally a centre-back and has featured just 21 times and struggled with injury issues throughout the campaign to cover the position while Furlong is ruled out.
It also means that they will have less cover at the heart of defence if something happens to Kyle Bartley or Torbjorn Heggem with Semi Ajayi still out injured.
The blow could have a major impact on the Black County clubs promotion ambitions, as they will be much more vulnerable on the left flank with the near ever-present missing from the squad.
Mowbray’s side cannot afford to drop points in the race for the playoffs with Bristol City and Blackburn just two and three points behind them respectively.
Furlong’s suspension could come back to haunt the Baggies massively, if results go against them whilst he is not able to feature and the fail to secure a playoff berth.