Bad news for Baggies

West Bromwich Albion’s injury-depleted defence has been cruelled further after Steven Reid was ruled out for at least six weeks.

Reid was forced off the pitch in the second half of West Brom’s 2-1 loss to Manchester United on Saturday, and scans have confirmed a cartilage tear in the right-back’s knee.

Baggies boss Roberto Di Matteo has lamented further bad news for his defence, which is already without Gabriel Tamas, Pablo Ibanez and Jonas Olsson due to injury.

“It’s really bad news for Reidy,” Di Matteo told West Brom’s official website.

“He is an important member of our squad and was playing well until he was forced off. The big thing about Reidy is that he offers cover for so many positions.”

“He’s likely to be out for a minimum of six weeks and all we can do is wish him well with his surgery and a speedy recovery.”

Ibanez, who struggled with hamstring soreness on Saturday, will likely miss Tuesday’s match at Fulham but should be back soon.

“Pablo’s hamstring was playing up on Saturday and he couldn’t continue but it looks as though we caught the problem early as the scan results are very positive,” the boss said.

“We’ll just have to assess him on a day-to-day basis.”

“We’re going to be even thinner on the ground than we already were in defence against Fulham but we’re just going to have to pull together and give it our best shot.”