Round-up: West Brom sweating over defender’s availability, ex-Birmingham City goalkeeper could move on in January

West Brom are back in action tomorrow against Preston North End. They beat Bristol City 2-0 on Boxing Day at Ashton Gate.

Birmingham City have Hull City at home on Friday. Here is a look at some of the latest news regarding the pair...

West Brom

West Brom defender Kyle Bartley has been a dealt a setback on his road to recovery from injury. The 31-year-old has a thigh problem and the Baggies are awaiting to see results of a fresh scan to see how long he could potentially be out of action for, as per a report by the Express & Star.

Preston could be without Alan Browne, Ali McCann and Emil Riis for their clash against Carlos Corberan’s side. Their boss Ryan Lowe has told the Lancashire Evening Post that he doesn’t want to rush the trio back into the team: “It’s nice to have them all back but we rushed them back so I’m just cautious that we don’t rush them too much. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, you think could you have freshened it up and played them but we’ve been limited on numbers.”

Birmingham City

Wolves goalkeeper Matija Sarkic, who spent last season on loan at Birmingham, could reportedly be allowed to leave Molinuex in January. As detailed in a report by the Express & Star, the Montenegro international is ‘likely’ to head out the exit door on loan or on a permanent basis should his current club land a new stopper next month.

John Eustace is unsure whether striker Scott Hogan will be back for the match against Hull. He missed out against Burnley last night and his manager has told Birmingham Live: “He was close, he has also had a bit of an illness this week, he has had a virus which has been going round the camp a little bit. Hopefully touch wood he will be close for Hull, we will have to wait and see.”