West Bromwich Albion are having problems all over the pitch when it comes to injuries, and it is having a knock-on effect to their season as they struggle to gain traction in their Championship title challenge.

Fulham and Bournemouth have gone out ahead in the first and second places in the league, with the Baggies currently seven points adrift from second spot.

Valerien Ismael will be likely to go looking for players in the winter transfer window, and according to BirminghamLive they are intensifying plans with the West Brom manager. Speaking on the club's plans recently, the boss said;

“For sure we are intensifying the players, but we have been preparing in the background already, you don’t start one week or two weeks before the window opens,” Ismael explained.

“It’s all a process. We know exactly where we want to see players.

Sky Sports pundit, Don Goodman, has had his say on where he thinks West Brom can strengthen and more importantly, the "powerhouse" they can sign to do the job.

“West Bromwich Albion haven’t got a Daryl Dike, they haven’t got that powerhouse."

“They have Jordan Hugill who is powerful in the air but in terms of dynamism and mobility maybe Daryl Dike just offers that little bit more.

“So look, I think managers we know like players that they have worked with and that they can trust and I think that [Dike] would be a very wise signing for West Bromwich Albion if they got the opportunity to make that happen.”

Dike is currently playing in the MLS for Orlando City SC, after half a season on loan with Barnsley, working with current West Brom Ismael, where he scored nine goals in just 22 appearances for the Yorkshire club.

The 21-year-old is back in America and is currently having a huge impact on his MLS club, with 18 goals and four assists in 35 appearances. Those numbers would definitely benefit West Brom in their chase for automatic promotion to the Premier League with a barnstorm approaching potentially taking them back to the promised lands of top-flight football.

Ismael will have some important decisions to make and will hopefully get the financial backing from the club to add players in the key positions, specifically Dike, that could be the difference between Premier League promotion or another season in the Championship.

West Brom take on Nottingham Forest at home on Friday night in a game where they will be hoping to grab three points to continue their challenge to climb into one of the two highest positions of the Championship.

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